Kinetic Spirits: Arc 5 - Malice
by Fidchell
Summary: A wave of disturbing aura washes over the Sanctuary. Jude perceives a dark foreboding with his newly acquired Disaster Sense—a wrathful presence lies dormant, preparing to release an unstoppable rain of destruction. Hildegard and others of the Sanctuary must stop this unstable power before it's too late. A pokemon-centered story by Fidchell and Raksha. Rated T for violence.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Beyond Bounds

A month had passed since Jude's first disaster sense. Winter had reared its head early, blanketing the forest grounds with a soft, thin layer of snow. The snowfall continued, but at a generous and light pace, and pokémon were thrilled to see the coming change in season. The breeze was chilly, carrying speckles of snowflakes gently across the quiet and calm haven. The young winter had also carried with it a serene atmosphere, the activity of summer and autumn slackening in its wake.

The pokémon of the Sanctuary, while in awe and excitement for winter, also observed in peaceful solitude for the most part. The white that covered the forest was always a brilliant sight to behold. Younger pokémon wandered out and played as they would every season, but interacted with the snow even while the quietness still hung over the haven like the canopies of the very trees.

Shard, the weavile, in particular took great joy in the winter, being part ice type. She had introduced the pokémon to her antics rather quickly, creating all manners of pranks and generally fun activities for the children, like ice slides and freezing ponds. She was also a monster at snowball wars, leaving pokémon in amazement of her sheer skill. Shard then found herself being a coach for many others who wished to indulge in her artistry.

The harvest of summer and autumn was above expectations, Hildegard and Bernard having done a great job in restoring them. Enough food was available for the denizens of the Sanctuary, stored in one of the ruins' buildings.

Hildegard the lucario and Fleur the lopunny were ambling slowly through the forest together, taking in the soothing ambience of the white forest. Hilde's mind pondered on the incident one month ago, when Jude had tapped into his first disaster. As far as she knew, nothing threatening had made itself known for the entire month afterwards. The concept of disaster sensing was quite foreign to her, and she did not understand the rules behind it. Regardless, the lucario remained aware, knowing that the simple fact that he had sensed disaster was reason enough to stay wary. Hildegard also disclosed to Fleur the bad news, even if she or Jude did not exactly know what the hidden threat was. They chose not to tell the pokémon of the Sanctuary to avoid panic and tension, wanting to understand the nature of the danger before revealing it.

Hilde was taken out of her trance by the excited cries of children playing nearby. She and Fleur stopped to watch, the lucario feeling a sense of contentment observing them. Hildegard's times in the wilderness alone were memories she preferred not to dwell in, especially the times she braved the winter. Seeing other pokémon enjoying their lives in the midst of it was reassuring. If they were not playing outside, they were huddled up in burrows and the ruins with their families and friends, keeping warm. Hildegard curled up in burrows back then, lonely, miserable, and no one to pity her for her situation. The world was cruel to her, but her determination kept her warm and resolute.

The lucario has felt a further attachment to the haven though she still did cling on to her ulterior goal. Even with her recent battle with Jude, the lucario still had a strong bond to her late master, feeling his presence within her. She could not simply drop all that she had done in his name. Regardless, Hilde was very relaxed after that battle, making peace with a former ally that had been on her tail for so long. Everything felt like they were slowly piecing together in a natural way; Hildegard hoped that her deepest troubles would too mend themselves in time.

Hildegard pondered on Jude's incident once again, remembering how she and Fleur followed him to a dead end, never finding the threat his sense had latched to. It was greatly disappointing and spelled an unnerving predicament where they could be blindsided by anything. The lucario had plans to meet with him again to seek the source, recalling something she learned about dark types: their power seemed amplified under the night sky. She had yet to test this theory with the absol, as she wanted Jude to recover from his stressful episode first. Needless to say, they did not have any meditation sessions together after that, but Hilde did help him hone some of his dark abilities a couple times when he was feeling up for it.

"I wonder how Hearth is doing," Fleur spoke up, snapping Hildegard out of her hypnotic state. The lucario gazed at the lopunny, whose eyes communicated a bit of concern for the pensive lucario. Hildegard grunted passively.

"Who knows with her line of work?" Hilde replied. Word of Hearth's "profession" had spread throughout the Sanctuary, everyone greatly fascinated by her history. No one ever heard of a witch who found redemption and then took up a dangerous mission to exterminate the collective she had previously indulged in. Her company was pleasant, and she even made a few friends. Hildegard could guess the houndoom did not wish for any, however, because of her future plans. Hearth having also been her ally once, the lucario did hope she would find success and perhaps return safely one day. Her departure from the haven was a sad one for certain. Before she left, the houndoom even bestowed some words of wisdom for her absol companion, inspiring him to remain focused, not to let his anger take hold of him, and not to allow a grudge to poison his spirit.

After another moment of silence that complimented their surroundings, Fleur spoke up again. "How do you think Jude is doing?"

"I don't know. I'll have to ask him," Hildegard responded. They had been leaving the absol alone for a while, but the lucario was confident he still retained the motivation to work with them on the issue of the unknown threat.

"I've been thinking about it so much," Fleur muttered with a worried tone. She put a couple fingers on her forehead, massaging it. "Every single day."

"Try not to," Hildegard suggested. "We don't even know if it's legitimate."

"That's what worries me. Not knowing." The lopunny mother sighed, her breath a visible cloud that elegantly dissipated into the chilly air. "I can't help it. I have so much to be responsible for. I want nothing dangerous to fall onto the pokémon because of my carelessness."

"Hey," Hildegard eyed her with a hard gaze. "It's not just you. Jude and I are in this with you. We'll figure it out before it hits, alright?" The lucario could not stand when Fleur would get so ahead of herself. She understood why the lopunny was on edge and perhaps needed a friend to vent to, but all the worrying she did was detrimental to her. Hildegard could sense it with her aura-Fleur seemed to have less energy, and it was impacting her mood for sure.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Fleur finally said, stretching and walking away a few paces. "I feel I haven't been myself recently. I have to stay strong."

"Yes, you do," the lucario assured her. There was silence between them for a moment, the two taking it in while dwelling in their thoughts.

"You know, I couldn't help but remember that horrible time...when Sage was faced by that monster," Fleur said with a bit of disinclination. "This threat that Jude sensed. Do you think—" Suddenly she was cut off when an anguished shout sounded from the distance. Both the pokémons' ears flared up in response, their eyes widened in alertness. They waited a little longer before hearing some angry chattering to accompany the pained cry.

"Let's go," Hildegard stated to Fleur, the lopunny nodding in agreement.

The two pokémon raced towards the noise, Hildegard leading them to the source with her aura sense. Eventually they came upon a rather grisly scene—a familiar zoroark was sprawled on the ground, crawling in desperation as multiple pokémon surrounded it, heckling and talking it down. The zoroark was beaten and bruised, the royal-looking garments it wore tattered and torn. A look of horror was painted on its pointed face as it dragged itself pathetically across the cold snow.

Coming in closer to the scene, Fleur suddenly realized who this zoroark was. She immediately rushed in and started questioning. "Just what in Arceus' name is going on here?" Upon seeing her, the pokémon backed off in surprise. They were residents of the haven for certain.

One of them, a poliwhirl, spoke with agitation. "We know who this scum is!"

Another one from the group, a lurantis, chimed in with displeasure. "Don't you know, Miss Fleur? He was a part of that raid! He killed Sagefox!" With those words, the group continued bickering angrily at the zoroark.

"Stop!" Fleur commanded, quieting the group once again. "I know who this zoroark is," she clarified, the dark type groaning in pain.

"So you know what we have to do!" an enraged sawsbuck shouted. "Miss Fleur, finish this lowlife!" The other pokémon clamored in agreement. Fleur felt her heart sink as she gazed again at the downed zoroark, who was shivering.

Tensing her brow, the lopunny again bellowed, "Enough!" The group was subdued, though with slightly more resistance this time. It was clear they were getting impatient, and Fleur had to stop the anger from flourishing. After she shouted, Fleur let off a calming aura with little effort, as if it came naturally to her. This aura was not visible, but spread across the scene like a wave of water. Hildegard felt this clearly, but the other pokémon probably did not understand how they suddenly felt more serene than before.

"Is that how we want to display ourselves, as barbaric, ruthless ruffians who will hurt anyone who comes across our haven?" Fleur presented the question with a powerful sense of authority, her voice booming among a silent atmosphere. "We know who this zoroark is, yes, but should we bring ourselves down to his level of evil and malevolence? We are pokémon of the Sanctuary! Sage may have met his end thanks to his actions, but I will say right now that he would never wish for us to fall to such a path of darkness." She paused after this, letting it sink in. The once-angry pokémon were now looking down at the ground, appearing thoughtful and even ashamed. The lopunny impressed Hildegard with her speech. "Unless there is a clear attack on our people, we will not wantonly hurt another, is that understood?" The pokémon muttered "yes's" and nodded solemnly. "Now then, I would abhor to assume that one of you has done this to the zoroark."

"They haven't," the dark type managed to say, his voice frighteningly hoarse. The pokémon all looked around at each other in surprise at his honesty. "Please. Help me." Fleur gazed down at the zoroark with a combination of pity and aversion.

"Hildegard, would you please?" the lopunny asked, turning to the lucario, who appeared as lost as everyone else.

"What? Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure," Fleur said with a pleasant smile. The lucario sighed as she went over and effortlessly picked up the fallen zoroark.

* * *

Fleur and Hildegard proceeded to bring the zoroark over to Sage's temple for healing. A few times during the trip, the zoroark expressed great pain and his condition was worse than they thought. He suffered many different injuries including fractured bones, seething burns, and even some chipped nails and teeth. His big head of hair was frazzled a great amount, and terror lingered in his eyes.

Both of them remembered him from the incident that resulted in the death of Ignatius. When the two went to confront Malgam and his cohorts in that decrepit human building, Sol had tied that psychic creature and the zoroark to a tree. After the battle was over, they went back outside to find they were both gone. They could guess that the zoroark might have been with the creature this whole time and suffered at her hands. They would have asked him for more details along the way, but the zoroark barely said a word within his agonizing throes. He at least was somewhat cooperative for now.

Once Fleur and Hilde entered the temple, they ambled over to a stone table illuminated with sunlight, the lopunny asking the lucario to place him onto it. Hildegard did so gently, his aura communicating to her the sheer amount of pain he was in. It was not a pleasant feeling to share, and Hilde made sure she did not add to his suffering.

"How long do you think it'll take?" Hildegard asked, assuming Fleur knew she was speaking of the healing process.

"He looks awful," Fleur breathed out, her eyes full of pity. "It may take a while, but we'll make sure he is watched over, not just because he is horribly injured, but…" She did not need to say another word about it; Hilde knew she spoke of his allegiance, and still was unsure if this was part of a trick. "About what I was saying earlier. Do you think he might be what Jude sensed?"

"Very possible," Hildegard stated. "But he looks too messed up to do anything. It might be whatever gave him hell."

"That makes sense. You're thinking what I'm thinking, yes?" Fleur looked over to the lucario, hopeful but worried. Hildegard rolled her eyes to her and stayed quiet, the two maintaining their gaze for a bit in silence, as if communicating telepathically.

"It would be bad if that's what he detected," the lucario finally said. Before she could continue, however, a figure appeared as a silhouette against the bright opening of the temple. At a distance, the figure was humanoid in shape with a long and slender appearance. Hilde and Fleur turned to face the creature as it hesitated at the doorway.

"Come in," Fleur called out. The figure entered the temple hastily, jogging up to the scene. Its appearance became more apparent the closer they got—it was MeiLi, the mienshao. Hildegard had not seen her for a while and wondered what she had been up to. It was safe to say hardly anybody trusted her after the incident. The lucario could certainly resonate with how the mienshao felt with all the weight on her shoulders. If she came at this very time, she must have had something important to say, but the scowl on her face only broadcasted an imminent griping.

The familiar bells and fancy trinkets jingled on her figure as she strutted towards them in a hurry. Her maddened eyes focused on the zoroark lying on the table.

"What in Arceus's name is he doing here?" MeiLi questioned with a fierce tone. Fleur raised a hand, signaling the mienshao to calm herself.

"Relax. He is gravely injured," she replied.

"As he should be," the mienshao said coldly. She crossed her arms. "I apologize for barging in like that. Did he just waltz into Sanctuary?"

"It seems that way, but he was already hurt," Fleur explained. "We're going to help him recover." MeiLi's eyes widened with shock.

"Why is that? Why must we spend resources on this unfaithful…" the mienshao stopped herself before she went on a mindless rant, sighing deeply.

"It was Sage's wish that this be a hospitable community. If anyone were to betray our kindness, that would be a different story."

"He betrayed me," the mienshao uttered shakily, her eyes glossy. The lucario and lopunny had nothing to say to that, though the zoroark shuffled in place weakly as if trying to respond. "His name is Xerxes, if you wanted to know," MeiLi revealed, walking off a few paces to cool off.

"Thank you," the lopunny mother said. "Perhaps since you seem to know him a little more than the rest of us, you would like to take up the task of ensuring his recovery?"

"Fleur," Hildegard spoke quietly, shooting her a concerned glance. Fleur nodded to the lucario in assurance.

The mienshao looked over her shoulder shyly. "Me?"

"Can you do it?" the lopunny asked, trying to show confidence in her voice.

"Why me? It's not even a matter of whether I can. Xerxes is just—,"

"I understand the relations here," Fleur clarified. "I feel this would be a personal task for you, maybe not one that you want to do, but an important task despite all that."

MeiLi's ears flared up, the mienshao turning to the lopunny. She appeared like she knew what the lopunny was trying to do. This was a matter of trust, and regardless if she and Xerxes had a rather skewed relationship, it could serve as a test. After some hesitation, the mienshao nodded slowly, giving her a determined look.

"Fleur," Hilde said once more, summoning the lopunny to her. The two walked away from the scene until they were far enough where they could not be heard. "What is this? It isn't just about hospitality, right?"

"Of course not," Fleur said with a bright smile, knowing the lucario would have an interest in this. "We did talk about this moments ago. We gotta know what did this to him. All these injuries show me right off the bat that it was done by something very powerful."

"That creature," Hildegard said under her breath, gazing at the lopunny with a better understanding.

"Keep looking after Jude, will you?" Fleur asked of her. With that, Fleur left the temple. Hildegard could have left with her, but her attention was set to the mienshao who was left alone with Xerxes. She stood there with little movement, focused on the zoroark sprawled onto the table. The lucario ambled over to her, her padded feet making little noise, though the mienshao certainly noticed her by now with her peripherals.

MeiLi proceeded to squat down, fingering the walls of the table to reveal a hidden compartment. She moved the small stone door to the side, revealing a multitude of berries and leaves, most likely used for healing.

"Are we gonna leave him here?" Hildegard asked. MeiLi shook her head.

"No, we'll likely use one of the cells." A moment of silence between them followed as MeiLi set some of the special healing berries and leaves upon the stone surface next to Xerxes. She then analyzed the zoroark's body to gauge the extent of his injuries and where she would make her first approach in the healing process.

"I'm surprised you're still here, after what I heard," Hildegard said. MeiLi sighed without looking at her.

"And what have you heard?"

"That you caused that old fox's death." MeiLi appeared unphased, as if she was accused of this so many times that it had turned her numb.

"Of course," she simply muttered, continuing with her work.

"Well, I'm not going to say anything more about that," the lucario specified. "I was just curious why you're still here."

"The feeling is mutual," MeiLi said, giving Hildegard a slight glance. The lucario shot her a questioning look.

"What do you mean?"

"Ever since I first saw you, that has been on my mind. I sense something very unique about you," the mienshao explained, spreading berry juice on a leaf and placing it on one of Xerxes's burns. She then bent down to retrieve some sticks and bandages that were tucked deeper within the compartment. "I am a queller of spirits. I deal with them almost every day. I sensed not only your spirit, but another ghostly presence near you."

Hildegard's face became grim with realization. She approached MeiLi, the mienshao standing her ground, but becoming wary.

"You detect him?" the lucario whispered sharply with desperation.

"I apologize. I shouldn't have said anything," MeiLi said, appearing uncomfortable and stopping her work.

"Why wouldn't you?" Hildegard questioned.

"I can tell there's a huge burden on you. You're on a mission, but I did not feel it was my place to pry. It's not something I tend to do." The lucario backed off a little, gazing away with a look of utter anxiety. MeiLi faced her with concern. "You were confident. What causes you to sway now?" Hildegard could feel her heart racing. What the mienshao was saying made perfect sense. Her affinity in dealing with spirits was no joke. She basically confirmed the presence of her master!

"Nothing. Nothing now," Hildegard stated bluntly, turning and marching towards the temple entrance. MeiLi said not another word as she left. With this on her mind, Hilde felt her vitality reignited, knowing her efforts were not wasted. For now, though, without a clear direction on how to achieve her main goal, Hildegard had to ensure one thing—the safety of everyone in the Sanctuary, as the nature of the disaster was still unknown, but very much real, and it was coming.

* * *

As if it was not already quiet during the day time, a wintery night in the Sanctuary was something else to behold; one could say time had simply stopped with how still everything was, whether it was pokémon or plant life. Some pokémon set up campfires around the forest and gathered around them to have pleasant conversations of all kinds of topics, and even they were not very active under the starry sky. The serene atmosphere of the haven spread across everyone it seemed, lending to a peaceful night.

Jude ambled across the snow-covered ground, the snow displaced with the footprints of pokémon that have already treaded across it. The absol's white coat shone brilliantly against the moonlight, the night blending him in well with the darkened, wintery forest. The absol aimed to meet with Hildegard again, not for a training session, but for another attempt at tuning into his disaster sense. The thought made him nervous, as he still felt he did not have enough experience, but he understood the danger that it alluded to. He had to get better at using this special sense, else the threat lurking could pounce at any moment and cause a horrible tragedy, and Jude knew he would have no one but himself to blame for being too weak once again. That was going to change.

Jude saw the lucario up ahead, seated on a steep hill that overlooked the white forest canopy, radiating under the night sky. The absol shuffled and climbed his way up the hill, looking down at the footprints already laid down by the lucario so that he could get a better grip of the cool soil. Once he reached Hilde, he sat down on his haunches, waiting for her to say anything.

After a long pause, Hildegard barely craned her neck to see the absol sitting next to her. "You ready?" she simply asked. Jude nodded. "Are you sure?"

"It doesn't matter, really, if I'm ready or not. I have to get used to this," Jude muttered, swiping at the snow beneath his feet. "I don't want to make anymore excuses."

"The sense really took a toll on you," Hildegard reminded the absol. "I'd rather not push you too hard in case it comes down to something serious. It's better to have you well than to not have you at all, if you get me." Jude got her. She thought that he could possibly die if he went overboard. Something Hilde tried to drill into him was the importance of moderation, but Jude knew how dire the situation was, and he was greatly determined to prove to everyone he could lend a paw in eradicating this looming danger. No one but he understood his disaster sense, as it was the unique power of absols, and he was confident he could handle it.

"I'll get better," Jude stated firmly. "I know I will."

"With time and practice, I'm sure you will," Hildegard assured him, kneeling down to face him. "But if you truly feel you are ready, we'll begin." Jude nodded with poise. Secretly he had been working on his meditation, but sparingly. Just when he felt his sense would connect, he would back off, but he did this enough where he could simply ruminate in his thoughts for longer periods of time. The way he inched in to the link gave him more familiarity with how the sense felt, and how he could better grasp and keep hold of it so that it does not damage his mind.

Hildegard and Jude traveled closely together to the last place the absol took Fleur and her. After his initial disaster sense, Jude directed them to an area beyond normal bounds of the Sanctuary. It was a lot more rugged in this area, with thicker vegetation lining the rocky cliffs and hills. It appeared like it was a different biome altogether, a piece of the wilderness untouched through time—but it was certainly touched. Jude simply did not understand how, and neither did Hilde or Fleur. It was practically a dead end since they did not find the source, but deep inside, the absol felt something was off about the craggy area. The sense had scrambled his thoughts, leaving him unable to pinpoint the danger.

"So why are we doing this at night?" Jude asked softly, the atmosphere in this section of the wilderness not quite as pleasant and peaceful as the haven.

"It may better suit you and your power. It's worth a shot," she explained. Jude knew she was referring to his type and how it could possibly synergize better under the moonlit sky. The absol was not sure how that worked, but he was not about to question Hilde.

"And we're going to the area before we try the sense?"

"If you tap into it while we're there, you may get a better picture of the disaster," Hildegard again clarified. Jude grunted quietly, understanding the lucario's mindset. Just as Hearth told him, the absol had to keep an open mind and put aside his stubbornness. Getting perspectives from other creatures could reveal to him new ways of looking at things, and this was certainly one of those situations. If his sense had initially taken him to that spot, tapping into it could make its presence known, though he still had no idea what to expect. The fear of the unknown clasped tightly at his heart.

"Don't be afraid," Hildegard suggested. Of course, it was her aura that revealed the fear swelling inside of him. "I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't have any faith." Jude appreciated the gesture, aiming to be of more use this time.

The two stopped at the familiar spot. In this area there was a cliff noticeably taller than the others. A large pool of water lay in a valley down below, possibly once the site of a waterfall. A row of large stones jutted out from the cliff, leveling with where they stood to create a platform directly in front of the cliff face. This specific landmark was one that stood out to them.

"This is it," the lucario stated, slightly puffing her chest out, her filed spike gleaming under the moon. "Does the place look familiar?"

"It's where I took you guys last time," Jude recalled. "Should I do it now?"

"Yes," Hildegard replied, gazing at him now. "Just remember what I told you. Concentrate on your thoughts and release your sense of self. Once you feel yourself start to float away, eliminate those thoughts." This was what Hildegard told him before in his attempts to meditate. The absol laid on his belly, closing his eyes and bowing his head. His thoughts sloshed around in his head like a restless sea under the wake of a tumultuous storm.

Jude took a few deep breaths, quelling the turmoil within. He tried to maintain focus, letting his sense of self waver and float away, when all of a sudden, a white flash shone in his mind's eye. This was the point he had trained himself to veer from, but this time he had to succumb. A silvery swirl appeared, glistening as the absol traveled through the vortex in his head. He felt like his eyelids were being forcefully shut. The familiar pain was starting to well up, pushing against the absol's skull, but he remained vigilant, letting the vortex take him away. Different values in the silvery canopy began to make themselves known, the swirl appearing to have more depth, like a velvety cloth being waved in front of his face.

The swirl then evaporated, making way for a world painted in shining silver. Jude had never made it this far before. The vortex completely dissipated, the absol finding himself in the very place he lied previously, but Hildegard was nowhere to be found. Something was driving him forward, as if Jude was merely watching through the eyes of his "mind body." It ambled over to the cliff face, staring at it longingly, but that is where it stopped. Nothing else was happening, and the silvery images in front of Jude were starting to darken.

"No!" the absol shouted in anguish, his own voice reverberating loudly in his ears. The world of silver started undulating until it was nothing but blackness. A horrible pain surged through his head, and Jude's eyes snapped open. He was hyperventilating, Hildegard kneeling over him with her paw on his back.

"Jude! Are you okay?" she asked with a firm tone. Jude stared at her with wide eyes, the cool air burning his throat as he took in sharp breaths. His rapid heartbeat started to slow as he regained his senses. The frightened absol could almost feel Hildegard's warm aura soothing him.

"Yeah, yeah I'm okay," Jude croaked, coughing as he tried to shut out the lingering pain in his head. It was not as bad as the first time, which was telling of his progress.

Hildegard assured him of this by saying, "That didn't seem as bad as last time."

"Yeah, I guess. My head still kinda hurts."

"Did you see anything?" the lucario asked with bated breath. The absol gulped, knowing she would be disappointed in him. His initial silence caused Hilde to sigh with a furrowed brow.

"I'm sorry, Hilde," Jude replied solemnly, looking back at the snowy ground. "There wasn't much."

"Just tell me anything, anything new," the lucario demanded. Jude's gaze fixated on her, the dark type trying to appear confident.

"In the vision, I walked to the cliff face," he gestured to the cliff with a jerk of his head. "I was looking right at it, but that's when everything disappeared." Hildegard looked over towards the cliff and then jumped right up onto her feet in alertness. Jude was taken aback by this, getting up onto his feet as well. "What—What's wrong?" he stammered. Hildegard stepped a few paces forward towards the big hunk of rock, looking upwards. Jude followed her gaze and caught sight of a silhouette on the top of the cliff, the moon peeking over its shoulder. The figure was four-legged, sporting a wavy mane with spiky rocks jutting from around its neck.

"Bernard!" Hildegard called out. "I thought you were dead." The creature walked closer to the edge, revealing it was a midday lycanroc. Jude had never seen this pokémon before, but Hilde's familiarity with him was concerning. "How are you not transformed?"

"I visited the witch," the wolf-like pokémon stated bluntly, though not sounding entirely proud of it. Hildegard scoffed curtly.

"That's another question I had. How are you not some soulless vegetable by now?" she asked, the thought sending shivers down Jude's spine. They must have been talking about Ingrid, though he had no idea if there were other witches around. The absol wondered if Hearth was going to visit her again.

"I escaped," Bernard said. Jude could tell Hilde was getting impatient with his vagueness. "Are you here for the mirror too?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The black mirror. While I was in the witch's cave, I saw very peculiar things."

"That's gotta be an understatement," Hilde said with a laugh.

"One of those things was the mirror. It was more like it was made of crystals. Really dark, creepy crystals. She was going to sacrifice a pokémon to use as a vessel."

"A vessel for what?"

"For my brother," Bernard stated with chagrin. "I didn't want that, but through that experience, I learned something...or more I remembered something. This curse has brought suffering to a lot of pokémon and even people, but it has brought me and my brother closer than ever."

"Your brother? What are you trying to say?" Hildegard questioned, trying to get every little detail out of the lycanroc. Jude never knew her for that. This creature must have been a real subject of interest for the lucario.

"The thing that I transform into—that's my brother. That same witch trapped him inside me all these years," Bernard explained while looking down sadly. With shame, he continued, "As a pup, I didn't have the best relationship with him. I stumbled upon that witch and…" He whimpered but said nothing else.

"Alright, forget it," the lucario interrupted. "I don't need you to pour your heart out to me. Let's go back to that mirror."

Sniffling, Bernard gazed over at her again. "Ah, right. Well, I can deal with crystals and all sorts of stones, right? Well, I was able to sniff out the scent of that same mirror around this area." Hildegard and Jude locked into each other's eyes with the same look of stark realization. "So I'll ask again. Are you here for the mirror too?"

"We don't know what we're here for. My absol friend here just detected the source of a possible disaster here," Hildegard pointed out. Jude felt warm inside knowing Hildegard considered him a friend, though he had his suspicions that she was being facetious.

"Disaster?" Bernard pondered. "Here? That means it's definitely around this area."

"If it has something to do with that crazy witch, it's a bad sign for sure," Jude piped up. "We should search the cliff face!"

"Easy there, we don't know where the source could actually be," Hildegard suggested. "Let's just remain aware and tread lightly." With that, the trio of pokémon gathered in front of the cliff, studying the rock structure for anything that looked off. They could all feel some kind of aura that made them uncomfortable, but after some time they were not able to distinguish anything about the pile of rocks in front of them.

Hildegard was losing her patience once again. With a huff, she said, "There's nothing here. I don't get it." Grunting angrily, the lucario swung at the cliff face with her fist. To their shock, the image of the rocks rippled and then released a flash of energy, pushing Hildegard away forcefully. The lucario spun, falling off the edge of the rocky platform.

"Hilde!" Jude screamed, racing over to where she fell. To his relief, the lucario had grabbed onto the ledge, hanging by one paw. Jude was not sure how to help her in that very moment, but as it turned out, he did not need to, Hildegard lifting herself up without much trouble. She did look somewhat shaken, even a little embarrassed. She looked away from him with a huff.

"Careless. I was careless there," she grunted. Jude felt a lump in his throat, uncertain if he should even say anything to her.

"Hey! Look!" Bernard called out to the duo. They directed their gaze over to where Hildegard punched the cliff face, noticing immediately a strange warping of the texture. Just as Hilde and Jude went back to get a closer look, the texture disappeared, merging with the cliff face to return to how it looked before. The three stared on without much to say, pondering on what just happened.

"It's clearly a forcefield. And this is clearly not a regular pile of rocks," Hildegard spoke up, looking at Jude with a slight smile. "Your vision wasn't completely off." Jude smiled back, albeit nervously. He was flattered she would ever compliment him, and it's something he received little of in his life.

"Let me try something," Bernard suggested, squatting down on all fours until his belly nearly touched the ground. The wolf-like pokémon closed his eyes, exhaling and focusing hard. The rocks beneath them started to vibrate, Hildegard and Jude looking around in slight panic. The vibrations only grew stronger, and Hilde was not going to stand around any longer.

"Jude, with me!"

"Right!"

The two pokémon sprinted away from the ledge until they reached more solid ground, but the tremors did not cease. They at least would not have to worry about the rocks crumbling beneath their feet, leaving them falling down a long drop.

"What about him!?" Jude shouted on top of the noise of the loudening quake. Hildegard gazed over at Bernard, who was still stone in focus. At that point it seemed like the rock would give way at any moment. She was flabbergasted at Bernard's impulsive decision to commit to whatever it was he was doing. It spelled nothing but imminent danger.

Growling in frustration, the lucario leapt forward with a trail of aura behind her, gracefully landing in front of the lycanroc just as the cliff itself was beginning to crumble away. In the wake of its destruction, Jude thought he could see the ripple effect shudder and spread across the air like a disturbed water surface. The absol couldn't lie to himself—he was frightened, and he was not sure if he should help Hildegard in some way. He hated standing behind, not able to do anything.

Hildegard scooped up the rock pokémon just in time to avoid the boulders falling down over them. The lucario made another giant leap, returning to more solid ground as the cliff fully collapsed, leaving behind a huge plume of smoke in its destruction. For a while nothing could be seen beyond the hunk of rock, but the tremors had finally wavered until the earth was still once again. Now the only sounds in the cool winter air were the noises of rock falling down below and unseen, disconcerted pokémon crying out in the distance.

Once everything calmed down again, Hildegard laid Bernard down, the lycanroc looking amazed at what he just did.

"It appears carelessness is making us some progress," the lucario scoffed, looking back at the wreck that used to be a cliff. The smoke was beginning to fade, revealing a strange blackness that stood out from the rest of the scene. It was a large opening that appeared to go deeper underground. The trio ambled over to this massive hole they unveiled, and were enthralled to see this opening was lined with what appeared to be stone carvings that were deliberately placed, most likely by humans of the past. They also noticed pillars on the sides of the entrance, still partially encased by the rock that once made up the cliff. It seemed to Hildegard that this was not exactly the end of Sanctuary bounds. The entire place may have been a huge human civilization that was also host to many places of worship, including temples. The lucario remembered when there was a phase back then when her trainer was fascinated with archaeology and manners relating to this.

In her trance, Hildegard almost did not notice Jude appearing disturbed.

"Jude?" she spoke his name, but he did not budge for a few seconds. Finally, he closed his eyes, shaking his head. "What's wrong?"

"You don't feel that?" he asked, gritting his teeth. Now that he mentioned it, Hilde found herself sensing something unpleasant in the air. Tapping into the source, the lucario focused on a dark aura emanating from the entrance itself. The thought of descending into this unknown human structure shook her to her core, and the aura was not helping.

This was definitely it—the threat that was made known from Jude's disaster sense was inside this temple, waiting.

"We're going in," she stated.

"I was afraid you would say that," Bernard whimpered.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: A Dire Rage

Hildegard, Jude, and Bernard ambled warily down the cool, cracked stairs of the aged temple. They could see nothing but darkness ahead of them, their footsteps echoing down the shrouded interior. The lucario noticed rows of thick dust along the steps that have been clearly dispersed towards the side, showing that there was activity here recently.

The trio were an odd bunch for sure, but each with their own strengths—that Hildegard was sure of. She could not help but feel disturbed by the malicious aura pouring out from the darkness, unsure of what was to come or what they would even find in such a place. Not only that, but even with their strengths, Hildegard could sense a stark fear coming from her teammates. She just hoped that they would at least be prepared to battle if they needed to. She knew Jude would, as he was always trying to prove himself, but Bernard on the other hand did not seem the type. She never saw the lycanroc fight aside from when he was in his midnight form, and he was not even fully in control of his own body then.

As the team continued their slow pace down the large staircase, the lucario gazed over at the walls and noticed base relief sculptures decorated alongside different, intricate patterns. Everything was formed in such a delicate and impressive fashion. Hilde noticed many of these sculptures depicted humans and pokémon working together. The lucario was able to identify some of these tasks, such as lifting heavy objects, healing others, and there were even some depictions of them playing together.

Hildegard could not quite determine what all of the carvings of pokémon were supposed to represent, but one specific pokémon was appearing in many places. This pokémon was small, about the height of the average human torso. It sported a long tail with a more bulbous end, had short limbs, and was posed to be floating in every instance it appeared. While Hilde could not make out what it was, there was a detail she pinpointed that was familiar to her: it wore a strange sort of tiara.

"I've seen that creature," Jude whispered to Hildegard, talking quiet enough as if he did not want to disturb a single dust mote in the temple.

"In real life?" the lucario inquired. Jude looked confused for a second, then shook his head.

"No, no, I mean, I've seen carvings like in here. When the lopunny took me in, there was another underground temple she guided me into." The two proceeded to stew quietly in their thoughts. "I wonder what it is. It seems like it's important if it appears on a lot of these walls." Hildegard did not have much to say to that, but that tiara caused her mind to swirl in frustration as she failed to recall where she saw it last. Either way, the creature that wore it was unknown to her.

"I wonder how they made these. They're kinda neat," Bernard said in wonder.

"Wouldn't you know? You're a rock type, right?" Jude questioned.

"Who do you think made them?" Hildegard asked the lycanroc, who gazed over at her, appearing blank.

"I don't know. I guess humans? I've seen what sorts of things they can make."

"That's correct," Hilde confirmed, the two other pokémon looking at her intently as if expecting some sort of lecture. "Fleur told me about how the whole Sanctuary and all these buildings were man-made, including the sculptures."

"Wow, then that pokémon must be really important to them," Jude deduced, clearly pleased with himself. Suddenly, the absol grunted, as if he received a sharp pain. Hilde and Bernard stopped, focusing on Jude to make sure nothing was wrong, but there certainly was, as the absol groaned and hunched down awkwardly on the staircase.

"Jude, what is it?" Hildegard asked, Bernard appearing panicky and keeping distance.

"It's that awful feeling, but it's…" Jude huffed as he slowly regained his footing, shaking his head. Hildegard saw his damaged horn slightly glowing, but then losing the radiance only seconds later. "Don't you feel that too?"

"I feel something disturbing all right," Hildegard answered. "Maybe it doesn't hurt because I'm used to sensing all kinds of aura."

"Or you have a thick skull," Jude sneered, wincing as he spoke.

"And you don't?" Hildegard said with a chuckle. "I do have a steel skeleton," she clarified. "And he," saying as she looked over at Bernard, "probably has nothing but rock in that head."

"Hey," Bernard called out in annoyance. They all snorted and snickered, alleviating some of the tension they had previously felt. With Jude feeling better, they pressed on into the temple's depths until they finally came to level ground, where it was especially dark. The floor was patterned as well, made entirely of rock, of course. Hildegard focused her energy and allowed wisps of aura to emanate and orbit around her body, lighting up the temple slightly with a gentle, blue hue. Her eyes also gave off a blue radiance, a showing of the sheer amount of aura that was within her. The room branched out into other large corridors, but Jude continued to guide them down the correct path, being able to sense the source passively now. Because he was able to do this, it signified to Hilde that they were closing in on it.

"Get ready, everyone," the lucario stated. "Be prepared for anything, anywhere."

"Just tell us if you sense something crazy," Bernard said timidly. "You can do that, right?"

"Jude should be able to as well," she said as she gazed down at the absol confidently. "We'll be fine."

The absol led them down the hallway leading forward until they could see an illumination up ahead. The light was a malevolent purple, which became more evident the closer they got. Within the darkness there appeared to be a strange shimmer that blanketed the opening ahead. The corridor opened up into a medium-sized chamber, and just up ahead was the single opening aside from the one they just emerged from. This opening was covered in an undulating forcefield, and it was clear to Hilde that this was where the sinister aura was coming from. She absorbed the aura that circled her, the light from the forcefield enough to see the chamber in its entirety.

The trio stared for a while at the hypnotic texture, which swirled and churned with a psychic energy. Hildegard was first to approach it, studying the spellbinding energy field. The first impression she got was that it might have been the same type of field that they encountered at the opening of the temple itself, but further inspection gave her a feeling there were contrasting properties about this one. The very feeling she got being near it was different, the psychic energy that she could identify shaking her core.

Understanding the type property of this forcefield, Hildegard looked over at Jude, who looked uncomfortable.

"You might handle this better than me," the lucario said bluntly. Jude was puzzled.

"What do you mean?"

"It's psychic. You're immune to this field," she explained.

"A-Are you sure?" the absol stammered, clearly doubting her.

"Come over and see." Hildegard could sense his strong fear, but knew the absol would come through, not wanting to appear weak. Sure enough, Jude eventually broke and stepped forward, inching closer and closer to the field. A humming noise sounded off of it, a disturbing vibration rustling the fine fur on his face.

Suddenly, the forcefield shone brilliantly, illuminating the room and the cracks within the stone comprising it. The flash faded out quickly, but Jude whirled back, shouting in pain. Belly down, the absol grasped his head, groaning in agony. Hildegard rushed over quickly, reaching into her jacket to pull out an oran berry she stored. She had made a habit of taking some of the Sanctuary's berries, feeling she had the right to considering she recreated the crops. Hildegard felt his anguish and knew he needed healing. Holding the berry out to his open mouth, the lucario waited for Jude to eat it, but the absol continued to shout in pain. She then shoved it into his mouth, covering it with her large paw and forcing him to chew. Swallowing the berry, Jude eventually calmed down, the tension in his muscles relieving quickly. He lied down on the floor, taking deep breaths.

Everything was back to normal. The forcefield appeared like it never changed despite what just happened.

"I knew it wasn't like that!" Jude slammed a paw down, shouting angrily at Hildegard. She was greatly tempted to argue with the absol, but put it aside, looking back at the undulating field.

"That doesn't make sense. I could feel that energy…" Hildegard pondered more on the situation. "I know it hurt. I'm sorry for making you do that." Jude did not respond, and seemed pacified. "What did it feel like? Did you see anything?"

"I'm lucky I'm not blind," Jude grunted. "Other than that, felt like a bunch of needles pricking my brain. It wasn't my sense."

"It wasn't?" Hildegard asked curiously. "Then an attack, maybe?"

"Yeah, it hurt a lot," Jude stated sarcastically. "Never took an attack from some forcefield before. Did it feel like that when you got hit back there?" Hildegard knew he was referring to the forcefield that used to be at the mouth of the temple.

"I can't say it felt painful at all. It was just some invisible force that pushed me back." The three of them stood there, unsure of what to do next. This specific field was very strange if it was able to hurt Jude while having psychic properties. Or perhaps there was something else contained within it.

Hildegard ambled to the field again.

"Hey, what're you doing?" Jude called out. The lucario stood close to the forcefield, staring at the hallway ahead. She closed her eyes and focused her mind. The aura feelers on the back of her head raised up as she delved deeper and deeper into her meditative state. The lucario was attempting to sense what was up ahead. Even if they knew outright that the source of Jude's own disaster sense pointed directly to it, Hildegard was hoping there was something else she could pick up—anything. After what seemed like a couple minutes, she thought she could pick up a very faint voice. Hildegard's ears perked up as she tried to listen in.

It whispered once more. "Why did you leave?"

The voice was like a sudden breeze that chilled Hilde down to the bone. She retracted from her meditative state and stepped away from the field, sensing nothing but evil beyond the blockage.

"Hilde?" Jude asked nervously, as if realizing that even she was perturbed by the unknown presence.

"We'll have to go back. No doubt all the commotion we caused alarmed pretty much everybody in Sanctuary."

"Do you think they'll know?" he questioned. Hildegard sighed impatiently.

"Eventually. Might as well get it over with before someone gets hurt down here," she replied firmly. Her direct nature inspired the absol to puff his chest out and cling to his resolve.

"Right, that's a good idea," he agreed. As the two made their way out of the chamber, they looked back to see Bernard was not moving from his spot.

"Bernard?" Hildegard called out. The lycanroc turned to face them, appearing as if he snapped out of a trance.

"Oh, right," the lycanroc lazily strolled over to them, following them as they continued on their path to exit the temple.

Emerging out of the temple's mouth with nary an occurrence, Bernard strutted ahead of the group, bounding off into the forest.

"Hey!" Jude shouted to the lycanroc. Bernard halted in his tracks and turned to face the two, climbing on top of a rock.

"I'll be fine, I just need to stay away," he shouted back in an assuring tone.

"Trust him," Hildegard suggested to Jude. "It's for the best." She then called out to Bernard, "We'll probably be back soon."

"I'll stick around," the wolf-like pokémon said, and with that, he turned tail and continued to bound off until he was out of sight.

* * *

Together, Hildegard and Jude returned to the Sanctuary, which seemed rather still for what happened recently. At first it appeared all the noise had not caused much disturbance in the haven, something Hildegard was grateful for, but there was no way that not a single soul heard the destruction. As the two made their way towards the center, they thought they could see a warm light within the cold, darkness of the forest. They made their way towards this beacon, and as they got closer, they found a group of pokémon banded together. More lights appeared as the trees parted, the sources being lit torches that some of the pokémon carried. One of the pokémon in the group was Fleur herself, the sight of her causing Hildegard to groan.

When they were close enough, one of the pokémon, Puru the azumarill, pointed his torch at them, trying to get a good look at the duo.

"Hey, it's Hilde and Jude!" he said, his tone of voice sounding like he was accusing them of something. Inching closer to the group revealed that they consisted of Puru, Sol, and Fleur. It was not surprising to the lucario to see them together; at this point she considered them the main council of the place.

The lopunny looked flustered as she marched up to the duo.

"You wouldn't happen to know what that noise was, would you?" she said, exasperated. Hildegard scoffed and crossed her arms.

"You think we did it?" she asked.

"I know you were planning on going out to continue finding the source. Jude being with you makes that more evident," Fleur sighed, massaging her forehead with a couple fingers. "And that is fine, really it is."

"Well, you're right, except we didn't do that," Jude said timidly, not wanting to incur the lopunny's wrath.

"It was that lycanroc," Hildegard explained. "He came out of nowhere while we were looking. He offered to help."

"You met Bernard? He's alright?" Fleur's face lit up with relief at the news. "Oh, that's so good to hear. But, wait, you met him not long ago, yes? Doesn't he, you know, transform at this time?"

"That's what I thought too. I don't know if he got what he wanted out of that witch," Hildegard shuddered at the thought of Ingrid and what Bernard went through with her. She was still appalled that he was whole even after that. "But he wasn't in that other form." Fleur looked flabbergasted, pacing back and forth and buried within her thoughts.

"Very strange," she breathed out. "But good! That's good," she said, smiling warmly. "I hope he was able to fix that."

"Well anyway," Hildegard veered the subject back to the commotion earlier. "About that noise. Bernard pretty much destroyed an entire cliff face. We were out of bounds of the Sanctuary and found another temple." Fleur's eyes widened.

"Another?"

"It was well-hidden by an illusion, and—"

Fleur interrupted her, "Outside bounds? What sort of temple was it? Did you go inside?"

"I'm getting to that!" the lucario snarled. "But yes, we went inside. I'm fairly sure the source of Jude's disaster sense is buried deep in there." Fleur's expression became grim at the reminder of this calamity looming over their heads.

"That's good to know. I'm glad to hear you guys made progress on that."

"Speaking of which, that illusion at the temple's entrance…" Hildegard started, thinking about it for a moment, "it might be the cause of a zoroark."

"A zoroark? You mean," Fleur trailed off, understanding who Hilde was referring to.

"That's all I can guess that made something like that. They specialize in illusions." With this having been said, the group stood there for a moment, ruminating on all that had been revealed.

"Let's return to Sage's temple," Fleur suggested hurriedly.

* * *

While Sol and Puru went out to look for anymore disturbances, Hildegard and Jude walked back to Sage's temple with the lopunny mother. They entered the temple, finding Xerxes on a different table deeper within the building. The zoroark appeared like he recovered a little since last time, no longer writhing and groaning in agony. He looked more relaxed as well, resting soundly.

"Mei Li did a wonderful job," Fleur said as they watched over the zoroark. "I would be lying if I didn't worry at least a little bit about her finishing him, but I felt I could trust her this time."

"That was pretty reckless then," Hilde said disapprovingly. "He's supposed to be a good source of information."

"That's true, perhaps it was reckless on my part to entrust such a task to her, but at some point we had to test her loyalty." Fleur shook her head sadly. "Even with my master gone, that mienshao did everything in her power to continue supporting the Sanctuary. She wants to atone, I can see it in her eyes."

Suddenly, the zoroark stirred, coughing multiple times. He was still quite weak, unable to maneuver in any other fashion. They all watched him intently, waiting for him to say something. He was awake now, that was for sure, but he did not speak. He could hardly keep his eyes open.

Fleur decided to break the silence. "Are you feeling any better?" Xerxes appeared tense at first, but Fleur's warm voice calmed him, allowing the zoroark to lie at ease despite his suffering.

"Barely," he croaked, coughing again. Fleur breathed a sigh of relief. It was a good sign that he was able to speak, as it meant progress was being made in recovery. The lopunny ambled closer to the zoroark, whose eyes were glued onto her, the gap between his eyelids just wide enough to make out his irises.

"Can you tell me where you think you are?" the lopunny asked. Xerxes looked around. While he was clearly not familiar with where exactly he was in Sanctuary, his nonchalant countenance showed he still knew he was in the haven. He had known where he was crawling to. Regardless, he did not answer, just staring into the wall. Fleur asked another question. "Alright, well could you at least tell me why you came back here?"

"I was dying," Xerxes stated emotionlessly.

"That's true, you were in very bad shape. I suppose you banked on us helping you, even if we knew what you did?"

"Basically," he replied, coughing in the middle of a chuckle. "Though if you hadn't come, those haven dwellers of yours would have surely finished me." He talked in a drawl, his speech slow and a clear struggle for him.

"What did he do?" Jude asked curiously. Fleur sighed, hesitant to say, but Hildegard answered for her.

"There was a raid here not too long ago, and he was a part of it. It got Ignatius killed," she explained. Jude's eyes widened as he pressed his lips together, knowing now how sensitive of a topic it was.

"I did it all for her," Xerxes clarified, a little emotion starting to be heard in his ragged voice. "For her approval." He stirred again, but Fleur put a hand on his chest, calming the zoroark and encouraging him to remain lying down.

"Who?" the lopunny questioned, a little more stern now.

Xerxes was reluctant, but eventually gave in. "The mewtwo, Malice." The name sent shivers across all in the room.

"Mewtwo. That's what the creature is called, huh?" Hildegard said.

There was a disturbing silence for a few moments, but he continued. "Back at that human building, I managed to escape the binds you wrapped us in. I took Malice with me someplace safe, hidden behind an illusion."

"That underground temple hidden behind that cliff?" Hildegard brought up with intrigue.

"Yes," Xerxes said. Fleur appreciated the zoroark's compliance and willingness to talk, though this also might have signalled he had given up on his ways and motives. "I took her there. She was still unconscious, and oh, so cold." Xerxes shivered. "I thought she might die right there, but I felt something else being near her. I felt something in the air...became thicker each time I went back into the room."

"I felt it too," Jude spoke up. "Hilde and I. It's like some kind of evil aura."

"You could call it that," Xerxes chuckled. "But I don't know for sure what it is. All I know is that I made a mistake."

"A mistake?" Fleur inched in closer, morbidly curious in what else he would reveal.

"I loved her," Xerxes' voice choked as tears started forming in his eyes. "But that aura. It radiated off of her, getting stronger. It never affected me, so it must have been of a psychic nature." Xerxes breathed out, his voice trembling. "Something was contributing to it. Before I could figure it out, Malice...she…" The zoroark, his eyes widened, had to stop, as if remembering a traumatizing event. Everyone in the room were on their toes, waiting. "Malice turned into a demon."

"A what?" Jude asked.

"That's a word humans use," Hildegard explained.

"She nearly killed me," Xerxes said fearfully. "I barely escaped the temple. I had to cover the entrance with an illusion, bend the light so I could trick her."

"That's enough," Fleur said firmly, standing up straight. "I understand this is very stressful for you. I need you to relax and get some rest."

Xerxes did not object but asked, "Why did you not let me die at their hands? I know the pain I helped cause to you all."

Fleur sighed again with her head bowed, a hand grasping her chest.

She replied, "That's what Sage would have wanted. I'm going to carry out his dream for a haven of peace."

* * *

The three pokémon left Xerxes to rest, meeting up outside the temple. Fleur was clearly very bothered, but doing her best to collect herself.

"That's who it is, isn't it?" Fleur asked Hildegard without turning to face her. "That...mewtwo is the source?"

"Very likely," Hildegard answered. She gazed down at Jude for approval and he nodded.

"My sense was pointing towards that hallway, deep into the darkness. We couldn't see her, but we could feel her," the absol explained, attempting to sound confident.

"You guys couldn't actually see her?" Fleur questioned, her back still turned towards them.

"We couldn't go any further into it. There was some kind of crazy barrier," Hildegard explained with exasperation. "We couldn't break through the damn thing. I feel we should just let that lycanroc bury the creature."

"No," Fleur stated sternly, finally facing them with resolute eyes. "That temple is sacred, just as every other structure in the Sanctuary."

"That is outside of Sanctuary bounds," Hildegard pointed out. "You would prioritize sanctity over everyone's lives?"

"There has to be another way," Fleur said with optimism. "It is not always apparent. There's a weak point in everything, or perhaps another path not clearly seen…" The lopunny mother was brainstorming aloud, pacing back and forth as she normally did.

"I don't want to say there isn't any other way, but who knows how close we are to disaster?" Hildegard challenged. "Perhaps it's a rash move, but one that may be necessary."

"Hildegard," Fleur interrupted, walking up to the lucario. "Take me to this temple."

* * *

The trio arrived at the entrance of the underground temple, which looked about the same as the way Hildegard and Jude left it. The illusion was gone for good, the gaping mouth now obvious even in the midst of the denser vegetation. Hildegard could tell rather quickly that Fleur was able to sense the disturbing aura that permeated the interior. The lopunny treaded slowly and carefully down the stone steps, taking lead in front of the gang.

Her eyes trailed to the temple walls and she was suddenly fixated, the bas relief catching her interest. She walked over to the walls, scanning the sculptures intently while running her fingers across the dust-caked stone.

"Familiar?" Hildegard asked while ambling towards the lopunny mother. Fleur did not respond for a bit, as if attempting to digest what she was seeing.

"The pokémon on here," she trailed off, humming thoughtfully.

"Yeah, we noticed it before," the lucario confirmed.

Jude piped up, announcing, "I saw something like this in that place you took me underground." Fleur nodded, turning her head to eye the curious absol.

"It is recurring across the whole area. I figured this area was out of bounds, but perhaps this was a part of the civilization that once made up the Sanctuary."

"You think so?" Jude questioned with intrigue. Fleur nodded again.

"This pokémon is called Mew. Sagefox told me about this creature and what he knew about it," Fleur explained, taking in a breath. "It was a while ago. I don't remember everything, but I recall how he said it carried the title of 'mother' for all us creatures that walk the earth."

Jude and Hildegard were flabbergasted, never having heard anything about this creature. If it were true, how could word of such an important pokémon not have reached them, even in their times with their trainer?

"That's crazy," the absol finally spoke up. "A mother to us all? What about humans?"

"I don't think he mentioned anything about them," Fleur sighed in exasperation. "I wish I could remember all the details. But I know for sure she is considered a pokémon, you know, like us. Humans are different." They all thought about this as they continued their trek deep into the temple once again.

As they made it further, Hildegard opted to lead the group, using her aura again as a light in the suffocating darkness within. Eventually, they reached the forcefield in the medium-sized chamber, which was still present and demeaning as it loomed over the trio tauntingly. Fleur approached the barrier as Hildegard and Jude kept their distance, knowing what it was capable of.

"Be careful," the lucario called out to her. Fleur shot out her arm, fingers outstretched and gesturing for her to keep quiet. "Well, I tried," Hilde said in a whisper, huffing. The lopunny continued walking forward, getting closer and closer to the imposing shield, which almost appeared as if it were undulating in response to Fleur's approach. She closed her eyes and sensed a voice deep inside the corridor ahead.

"You were the only one," the voice said, wisping forth like a breeze blanketing the lopunny. At first, Fleur took pity on the voice. There was a genuine sadness behind its tone, a feeling of hurt and betrayal. In the midst of this voice, however, was another one that sounded like it was trying to break through and grasp Fleur's attention. Her senses began to flood with one very familiar—the smell, sound, and general feeling of it almost caused her to cry out in relief.

"Fleur," it said.

"Sage," she responded under her breath with a smile. This was not the first time she heard him after his demise, but it was certainly the closest she felt near his spirit. Fleur knew he had watched over her all this time. Though comforting at first, Fleur suddenly grew concerned over why he had made his presence known with such closeness. She felt he had something important to say, and just as she thought this, she heard him again, his voice ghostly and filled with caution.

"Beyond...her…" Fleur's eyes snapped open. After hearing this, she felt an overwhelming swelling of emotion. Her body grew hot with anger, her breathing becoming rapid. This was not what Sage intended, but she could not help herself. She understood now. Beyond the barrier was the murderer that took him away and caused so much grief. Sage's presence as well as the testimony of Xerxes confirmed this for her.

"Fleur, what's wrong?" Hildegard spoke up with concern, detecting Fleur's fast-growing rage. The lopunny ignored her, starting to see red. Her emotions engulfed her to the point where she had only one objective: to confront the remorseless killer.

The lopunny marched forward, but before she could interact with the energy field directly, something happened. The forcefield started to ripple violently, unexpectedly glowing a horrifying red. Jude yelped in fright and ran the other direction and out of the chamber.

"Jude!" Hildegard yelled after him. She was now in a dilemma and gazed back at Fleur. The barrier flashed another time and radiated brightly, sending out a strong force familiar to the one before, but with an aura that shook the lucario to her core.

Accompanying it was the voice, furious now, "LEAVE ME ALONE." The lucario and the lopunny fell back in utter shock, scrambling to escape the chamber right after Jude. They ran until they had emerged into one of the other chambers connecting to the hallway. The two breathed fast, trying to catch their breath as they kept their eyes glued behind them, making sure nothing had followed them out.

"What the hell was that!?" Hildegard snarled. Fleur was no longer angry, as if all of the emotion had been sucked out of her, and that is exactly what may have happened.

"I don't know what came over me," replied Fleur, who looked equally as bewildered. "Once I realized it was that mewtwo, I just got so mad. I felt like something else took control of me, then just…" she trailed off, feeling greatly uneasy from the event.

"It glowed red," the lucario stated, scoffing in confusion. "Seconds before that, I felt your anger. I never sensed so much rage from you before." Hildegard stood upright, crossing her arms. "And in that moment where it burst, it was no longer there."

"That really happened? Do you think it used my emotions?" Fleur asked, looking away perplexed.

"There is a lot I know about aura," Hilde assured her, "but a barrier feeding off your anger? That's new to me."

A frightened shout from outside alerted the two pokémon. Looking at each other for a moment, they proceeded to bolt towards the exit.

Emerging outside, Hilde and Fleur could see nothing out of the ordinary, but there was certainly something wrong. Jude was nowhere in sight, but the lucario could sense an aura, one that was full of mischief and cunning. The lucario held her nose up high, trying to locate the source, which emanated from above. Turning around, she saw a figure falling from the sky. Without thinking, the lucario grabbed Fleur and flung them both to the side, the falling object hitting the ground with a resounding THUD.

Quick observation revealed it was not just an object—it was Jude! The absol was near fainting, beat up rather badly.

"Jude!" the lucario stepped forward to care for the injured dark type when another figure flashed right in front of her. Before she could comprehend what she saw, it disappeared again, flashing from the corner of her eye. All Hilde noticed in that instance was that the creature sported brightly-colored fur. Whirling around, Hildegard heard Fleur grunt as she blocked an incoming tackle attack. The creature was very quick, making its way above Fleur by jumping and kicking off of the bewildered lopunny's body.

The creature plummeted down, its legs outstretched downward as Fleur crossed her arms, bracing to guard the impact. It fell down on her hard, bringing the lopunny to her knees. Hildegard took this opportunity while it was balanced on her arms and jet forward with Extreme Speed, combining it with a blinding fast Bullet Punch that hit its mark, sending the creature flying back while grunting in surprise.

It landed gracefully on the ground, and Hildegard was able to study its figure while it recovered. The creature had white and pink fur, its body decorated with strange ornaments that turned out to be a collection of bows and ribbons. One of the bows was placed on its left ear, while the other was on its chest. Each bow had two long ribbons flowing from them in a manner that suggested that they had a mind of their own. The chest bow in particular had ribbons wrapped around the bow in a way that looked like a "tie," which was something a human would wear with a fancy suit, as Hildegard remembered. This creature may have been the "sylveon" she had heard about in the past, though never actually seeing it with her own eyes until now.

Before she could study it further, the creature struck a flashy pose, laughing triumphantly as its body radiated a blinding light. Hildegard shut her eyes, growling in frustration. This was the third time this has happened on the very same night. This attack was different, however, and carried a property that Hildegard could sense was attributed with Fairy energy. The move was in fact Dazzling Gleam, the lucario taking the move well, but feeling its raw power sear through her flesh and reflect off of her steel bones.

The light subsided and Hildegard quickly positioned herself for battle, but the creature was gone. Hildegard and Fleur, slightly hurt, looked around frantically, anticipating an incoming follow-up attack, but nothing came except for an obnoxiously familiar voice.

"It's good to see you're still friends!" Hildegard and Fleur followed the voice to the top of the stone pillars that adorned the temple entrance. They discovered the creature was up there, gazing down on them with brilliant, sky-blue eyes, his ribbons waving gracefully in the breeze. "We can almost consider this a reunion of sorts!"

The smug smirk on his face filled Hilde with dread. She did not want to say it, but it came out regardless.

"Malgam?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Callback

Hildegard and Fleur stared on above them, eying the glamorous sylveon that stood proudly against the glistening night sky. The duo were in disbelief, unsure of what to make of his return, thanks to his unpredictable and wily nature. The sylveon gazed down on them with the familiar pompousness that he carried as an eevee, but with a strangely softer look to them. Everything was still for a moment as they all soaked in the atmosphere and the situation at hand.

Hilde stepped forward. "What are you doing here?"

"Whew, I can just feel the tension here. I'm happy you recognized me so quickly though!" the sylveon exclaimed. He lifted his chin in a gesture of piety. "How do I look? Pretty intimidating, huh? I can tell I have you guys completely floored."

The lucario scoffed. "Now that you mention it, I would have loved to see your face when you first evolved." Malgam smiled at her with a fang poking beneath his lip.

"It was a bit of a shock initially, yes." Malgam spoke with a confident and eloquent tone, one that was not present even when he was an eevee. Hildegard guessed whoever brought him in must have reared him well at least.

"So since you're sylveon," Hildegard said as the thought still lingered in her head, "that means you got yourself a trainer, one that treated you well no less."

"And still does!" Malgam, feeling the tension has been relieved, hopped down from the cliff, leaping gracefully on rocky platforms until he became level with the lucario. "He's more than I could have ever asked for!" The lucario almost smiled, feeling a warmth that reminded her of the bond she once had with her own master. While Malgam was occupied and daydreaming, Hilde turned over to Fleur, flicking her head towards Jude. The lopunny mother understood the gesture and went over to take the downed absol, who writhed and groaned in pain.

Suddenly, a white flash appeared between the two, accompanied by a startling whipping noise. Hildegard looked back to see the flash returning back to Malgam in the form of one of his ribbons, which had stretched out to an alarming length just then. Hildegard huffed.

"She has no beef with you. Let her get Jude some help," she demanded. Malgam laughed, his ribbons flapping about.

"I don't either, but this dark type. I've never seen him before."

"He's a friend, you don't have to worry about him," Hildegard clarified. Malgam looked unconvinced. "He's my friend."

Sitting on his haunches, the fairy boy said in exasperation, "Well, you know how dark types are. Lashed out at me the first second he laid eyes on me."

"Did he?" Hildegard sighed and put a paw on her muzzle. "He can be reckless."

"I suppose I'll pardon him, this time," he accented the last two words with a mischievous tone, sneering at the absol. With that, Hilde gave Fleur the signal once again and the lopunny carried the absol in her arms, taking him into the forest, but not before giving Hildegard a look of trust. The lucario assured her with a nod, and the lopunny bounded off into the woods without another word.

The lucario and the sylveon were left, studying each other for a while in the dead of the night.

"So you ignored my question back there," she said bluntly.

"Which one was that?" he asked quickly, as if anticipating her statement.

"Why are you here? Is your trainer with you?" the lucario questioned. Malgam did not respond right away, appearing nervous while looking behind his shoulders.

"No, not really," he answered. The lucario took a step forward, her eyes glowing slightly with the dense aura inside of her, longing to be released.

"What did you do?" she asked coldly. Malgam gulped and stepped back a pace.

"Calm down, will you? He's fine," he assured her, or at least tried to. Hildegard sensed his aura, which communicated a real anxiety, like the sylveon was not sure he should even be here. "I just wanted to...take a vacation."

"A vacation? It's only been a few months!" Hilde barked at him.

"Right, right," Malgam walked up to the stone face beside him, rubbing his cheek against the cool rock nonchalantly. "But lemme tell you, it was a very tiring few months. A lot has happened since he brought me in, and finding him in the first place was no easy task."

* * *

Malgam had been traversing the wilderness for days now, surviving off of meager meals that already made him regret leaving his slightly cushier life in the human building. He could not go back now—everything was destroyed, and there was certainly nothing to go back to, not even a foundation. Malice was gone along with that bumbling zoroark Xerxes, and his army was greatly split and disbanded.

Looking back on all this greatly discouraged the eevee, his heart gripped by the cold hand of loneliness. There was a point he sat down and simply wept, humiliated with himself. He was a special eevee for sure with his unusual skills, but even a big part of that was now completely gone, that being his former ability to switch between evolutionary forms. All that was left was a weird-looking eevee with rainbow eyes and a penchant for blink travel and floating in place. He was a freak, no doubt about it, and there was no way a human would see him as normal ever again.

And so, the eevee continued to wander, lost and alone, and even afraid, the world appearing bigger than it ever has before.

* * *

"I was out there, tail between my legs for at least several days," Malgam explained to Hildegard, the sylveon relaxed against the cliff with his head propped up, belly exposed. The lucario too was seated, listening to the sylveon's story.

"So you started to understand how rough and unforgiving the wilderness was," Hildegard said, her voice quiet as she reflected back to her own past.

"It was harsh, alright. I was subject to the salivating jaws of mindless, hungry beasts, waiting to get a bite of my fat, pampered rump," Malgam groaned, putting his paws on his face. "I just could not believe pokémon lived like that. All those pokémon that were in my dumb little army...it's little wonder they wanted the shelter I provided." He appeared somber and reflective, gazing off to the side. "Now they're out there again, and funnily enough, so was I. Even with the culture shock, I pressed on." The sylveon looked over at Hilde with bright eyes, which lit up with more confidence. "Then things got even more interesting."

* * *

Malgam was walking down a human-paved road. It was unmistakable from how neat it was and where the trees had been parted and torn down to create it. Around the human facility where he once called his base, Malgam noticed certain pathways were lined with a hardened, black substance. Some of these roads were paved with flattened stone, giving an appealing, patterned look that helped it stand out from the grass and dirt that surrounded it. It was all a clear mark of human activity and dominance, cutting through the wilderness like an imposing force invading a new and untamed land.

As the eevee strutted down the dirt lane, his silly cape and leg bracers tattered and worn, he thought he heard something approaching from behind. Turning, he spotted a youthful trainer emerging from the forest. His clothes stained with mud, little twigs sticking out of them, his clumsiness was something to behold, especially for Malgam, who had only seen robotic and calculated humans obscured by rubber suits his whole life.

The trainer was accompanied by a pachirisu, just as clumsy as he was, the little electric squirrel tumbling down a small hill. Upon laying eyes on Malgam, the trainer's eyes lit up with the recognition of a rare opportunity.

"That's an eevee!" he exclaimed, fumbling in his back pockets for something. After a minor struggle, he whipped up a strange, rectangular device. A cover flipped open on the device, the boy looking into the small machine with intense concentration. "Eevees are supposed to be rare around these parts." He turned over to his pachirisu, who had only now seen Malgam. The small pokémon winced at the sight of him. "And look here!" the trainer knelt down to show his pachirisu the peculiar instrument. "It says I don't even have one! This is perfect!"

With that, the trainer reached back again, ready to take out a pokeball most likely; that is, until he got a closer look at the eevee in front of him. Malgam, one of his favorite things being attention, could not help himself. He struck a pose almost instinctively, standing up on his hind legs. This would prove to be a mistake, as the boy and his pachirisu squealed in fright, turning and dashing away in terror. Malgam was frozen solid in his pose, watching in utter disbelief as the trainer disappeared from sight. He cursed himself for being too hasty, unable to control his sheer excitement.

And so, the lonely eevee would wait in agony, hiding out in the forest next to this trail. If one trainer had come by this spot, surely more would appear in the near future. Waiting for almost another day, Malgam finally caught sight of a female trainer, ambling down the road without a care in the world. The eevee prepared himself; this time, we would act like any normal eevee would! Popping out of the brush, he confronted the human, who was understandably shocked to see him. She quickly reached for her backpack and pulled out a pokeball.

She thought aloud, "I hope you don't belong to anybody." Malgam noticed she had taken interest in his leggings and cape, and he could not help but feel a sense of pride in conjunction with her fascinated expression. She tossed her pokeball, and out came a nidorina, pumped and ready for battle. The eevee smirked, ready to impress her with his power.

What became of the fray was a very injured and bewildered nidorina, the poor creature dazed by a crushing blow received from the eevee. Malgam had blinked to dodged its attack, teleporting behind it to return a powerful body slam attack. The poison type lied on the ground in a heap, trembling in pain and fear. The girl, frightened out of her wits, yelled, "Nidorina, r-return!" as she retracted the downed creature back into her pokeball. Wailing, she turned and ran, just as the other trainer had.

* * *

"It was awful," Malgam said, playing with his ribbons. "One after the other, I failed to make a trainer want to catch me. They all ran away, scared for their lives and the lives of their pokémon."

"You were too focused on showing off your power," Hildegard stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Tell me about it. I thought that power was what they wanted to see. They would realize how strong I was, then they couldn't resist me!" the sylveon chuckled, but then sighed sadly. "I beat up every single pokémon they threw out against me, and they all reacted the same way. Eventually, I couldn't even stay at that trail any longer."

"Why is that?" the lucario asked. Malgam scoffed and ran a claw against the stone beneath him.

"One of them mouthed off. A whole squad of intimidating-looking humans on vehicles came after me. They were on the hunt, and I didn't want to make things worse," Malgam stood up on all fours, ambling over to the edge of the platform, kicking a small rock off of it. "I just wound up searching for more trails, trying to keep close to the original one. Luckily it branched off into many different ones, and I was back to square one. I had to give up the cape and leggings though. It's charming to some, concerning to others."

Hildegard grasped her own jacket, feeling a pang of empathy. If she had lost her bracers or jacket, she would be devastated, as they were the only things she had left that helped her feel at ease. Malgam groaned loudly, exasperated.

"But what can you do? I found my human soon enough!" he said with his chest puffed out. "Finally, I found the one who saw my potential! But I also did everything right! I kept my cool, went easier on his pokémon, didn't have the freakish cape get-up, and I restrained myself from using my weird abilities!"

"The floating and such?" Hilde questioned, and the sylveon nodded in confirmation.

"I grounded myself the whole time. Man, if I were to look back at that fight, I would've just wept at how amazingly I did back there. I totally earned that spot in his team," the sylveon danced with joy, pattering his nimble feet elegantly as he twirled in place. Hildegard was spellbound by his maneuvers for a moment.

She then asked, "Where'd you learn that dance? Reminds me of a contest performance." Malgam stopped and eyed her with brimming exuberance.

"You know about contests?" he inquired with a wide grin.

"I lived among humans for most of my life," she answered, looking away and lost in thoughts of the past. "I know almost everything there is to know about their civilization."

"I should've figured that," the sylveon stated, scratching his chin. "After you revealed to me how to get my lovely fairy form, it should've clicked that you had plenty of human interaction. Still!" he leapt forward and cartwheeled effortlessly. "You're certainly right! I am a performing sylveon, and I take great pride in it." He did a meek bow and smiled toothily. "It feels like so much has happened in the past several months. It feels like it has been years!"

"Is that what you do then?" Hilde asked.

"For the most part. That and battling, of course. It's an amazing world out there. So much to see!" he stared off into the sky with a look of wonder. "And to think I was cooped up in that awful facility."

Hildegard huffed, smiling a bit to herself. "Well, it's good to see he has taken care of you." Suddenly, a thought invaded her mind, one that caused her to feel an overwhelming burden of doubt. She gazed over at the starstruck sylveon with concern. "So you're a sylveon now. How did your plan all come together?" Malgam noticed Hildegard's confrontational tone and collected himself, preparing for the storm.

Clearing his throat, he explained, "It was very particular. I had to be on top of my game. I needed to remain watchful. Trust me, lucario, I loved my trainer. He saw something in me that the others didn't."

"What did you do?" Hildegard questioned, scowling. "Stop padding this out." Malgam gulped and chuckled.

"Well, like you said, I needed a strong bond with my trainer."

"I didn't tell you the other part," she interrupted. "Something more technical. You needed to learn a fairy type move."

Malgam bellowed in laughter, which caught Hilde off guard. "Turns out I did all this time!" he exclaimed. "Charm. You don't know this, but I was really good with ladies. How do you think I got Malice on my side this whole time. The mewtwo?" Hildegard felt a surge of fear, reminded of the dark underground temple right beside her. The lucario's eyes trailed to the temple opening, looking into the black pit with unease. Malgam continued, "Anyway, I guess fortune favored me there. My trainer played with me every chance he could get. He's of a higher, uh, caste, you see, and he tends to be busy at times."

The sylveon trotted over so Hilde could catch sight of him. "I may have dreamed up a life of pure decadence back when I was in the facility, but I never imagined it being like this, enjoying life at the side of a human that loved me."

"Back to the evolving deal," Hilde snapped, her blue eyes glistening. "You had a fairy type move, and you carried a bond with your trainer. Did it all really work out just like that?"

"Well," the sylveon bit his lip. "At first he wanted a flareon, but!" He stepped back cautiously in reaction to Hildegard standing up, marching towards him with an unapproving snarl. "Look, just listen, alright? He was okay with it in the end! It took a bit to get used to, but he loves it, and I love it! The ends justify the means here, right?"

"He had a plan for you," Hildegard growled.

"And sometimes people make plans they later regret!" the sylveon said back defensively. "He even told me!"

"You still couldn't have known that. You're not a mind reader," the lucario retorted.

"Well, as to that," Malgam started, lifting a paw in objection. "I've found I am quite a talented reader of minds, if my battles were anything to go by."

"Enough!" Hilde shouted, trying hard to contain her rage, aura swirling around her body. With a grunt, she swung her arms down, dissipating the blue energy. "You're right. What's done is done. I just have too much respect for humans to…" She ambled away a few paces, staring into the stars longingly. The lucario was speechless for several seconds, then sighed. "If what you say is true, and it better be," she glared back at the sylveon, "then I suppose there's not much else to say."

"I certainly had good intentions," the sylveon tried to assure her. "If there's one thing I could not stop fantasizing about, it was this. When I evolved, I almost couldn't believe it. It wasn't what I envisioned." Hildegard almost chortled at this. "But I had to get used to it, embrace my new power, and I did!" Malgam puffed his chest out again, trying to appear tough.

He soon deflated, however, once Hilde asked, "Flareon only requires a fire stone. If he was wealthy, he would've been able to easily afford one."

"He did," Malgam replied bluntly, provoking Hilde's ire once again. "Thankfully I knew that. I tried to make it clear that I didn't want it. Then I had to get rid of it." He swept the ground with a paw anxiously. "It involved an elaborate scheme, getting rid of that. Touching it for too long would start the evolutionary process." Becoming dismissive, he stammered, "But enough about all that! Like you said, in the end it all worked out, and I've become quite a sensation!" He beamed excitedly, trying to ease the frustrated lucario. "Have you seen me on the posters?"

"I haven't been close to a human town since I left," she stated simply, folding her arms. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Oh, that's a shame. I suppose it is curious why you're out here now," Malgam said to himself, looking pensive. The conversation finally having come to a close, the sylveon curiously walked over to the temple entrance, craning his neck to the sides as if trying to get a good look inside.

He said quietly, "She's down there, isn't she?" His question reminded Hildegard of another thing she wished to inquire on.

"How do you even know that?"

"It's...somewhat of a hunch," Malgam said awkwardly, as if not being entirely sure himself. "I followed her here once, way back then. I can almost feel her calling out to me from within." Hildegard scoffed, not entirely believing him.

"I'm sure this isn't some casual visit."

"Not really," the sylveon said nervously. "There were plenty of times after I left my little empire behind that I couldn't help but think about her. I just feel awful. It stuck with me for the longest time. Then I got this pulse," he put a paw on his chest. "It was like it was trying to call me back here, make things right between us. I can sense her anger." Hildegard figured he knew what he was talking about, if he really did hang with the mewtwo for as long as he claims.

The lucario suddenly realized something—the sylveon's return and the aura of pure unbridled, seething rage. It was all becoming clear that Malice's state was a result of Malgam's departure. It could, of course, also be the result of having been defeated back in the facility, but the lucario remembered the whispering voice saying, "Why did you leave?" What else could have she been possibly talking about?

"You'll have to come with me down there," she said plainly, her voice slightly reverberating down the blackness. Malgam gazed at her in puzzlement.

"You're going back down?" he questioned. "What did you even find in there?"

"Don't you know?" Hilde questioned back, hearkening back to when Malgam mentioned he had been there before. Malgam shuffled nervously.

"Well, honestly, I'm not sure. It's not only been a while, but this is already starting to look foreign to me, the design and all," he explained. "But you all came out of there, right?"

"There was a barrier down there," Hilde cuts to the point. "We can't get through, and Jude's disaster sense detected whatever is down there."

"You mean that absol I knocked out with the greatest of ease?" Malgam smirked, showing his brilliant white teeth, but Hildegard shoots him an angry glare, causing his demeanor to crumple immediately. "So he detected something. I don't suppose you got to see it?"

"No, but we're about to. C'mon," the lucario ordered him, already descending down the dusty stone steps. Malgam trailed behind, fascinated by the bas relief sculptures decorating the walls.

* * *

Once the two reached the bottom, Malgam appeared more anxious than before. Hildegard used her aura to light up the interior with a soothing sky blue. She turned to face the nervous sylveon.

"What's the matter?" she asked, surprised to see him this way despite his once brave stature.

"Yeah, this is definitely not the cave I was in before," he admitted, still transfixed to the intricate patterns and carvings of the underground temple. He paid particular attention to the flooring, running his claws across the thin depressions. "This place was definitely...elaborately made."

"Yes, it's a human temple," Hildegard stated. "What were you expecting from the outside?"

"I guess I got things mixed up. The caves Malice traveled to were not quite like this. It looked like, you know, a cave, naturally jagged walls 'n all." The sylveon sighed and stuck close to the lucario. "You're reading my mind, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know she's down here?" he asked, something that caused Hildegard to pause for a moment.

"I think so," she answered, moving onwards into the familiar large corridor ahead. As they walked, Hildegard heard Malgam starting to mumble faintly, groaning here and there.

Finally, he spoke up. "Do we really have to go through with this? I mean, you can feel that aura, can't you? That's what your kind does."

"Yes, I can, what of it?" Hilde stared him down in accusation.

"I mean, I can feel it to. It's really, really angry," he said, shivering visibly and shaking his head. "I don't like it at all."

"You caused this," the lucario stated bluntly. "We're all in danger now because of it. I'm not going to just leave this alone."

"What do you mean I caused it?" Malgam raised his voice, trotting in front of Hildegard. "You really think that's the whole reason?"

"Yeah, I do," she replied with an annoyed huff. "When I got close to the barrier, I heard her voice. I'm pretty sure she wants to know why you left." This statement struck fear deep into the sylveon, the fairy type frozen for a moment before swallowing and laughing nervously.

"So what part do I play in all this?" he asked, testing the lucario's patience.

"Don't act dumb. If you're here, we can solve this problem. I know it," Hilde said with confidence, walking past Malgam without another word. The sylveon considered turning tail and leaving, but he knew he had to be here. He could not submit to cowardice and avoid her once again. He was afraid he might not make it out alive, unsure of the whole ordeal. He could not help but think about his trainer, who loved him so. But in the end, it was his selfish desires that made him abandon one of his only friends.

The mewtwo in her current form was not even the one he thought about. When he was first brought into that facility to be experimented on by those suit-wearing humans, Malice was the only other pokémon he could find comfort in, and it was mutual for her. They grew to be friends, and Malgam had little to no idea what she was or where she came from. Their bond was all he knew, and a big part of what helped him carry on in those times.

Keeping this all in mind, the sylveon looked ahead at Hildegard with determination, eventually bounding after her. He was ready and willing to see this through. The two pokémon would soon arrive at the medium-sized chamber, held in place by magnificent stone pillars spaced perfectly across the room. It was at this point that they could eye the shimmering barrier up ahead, blocking the only other exit out of the chamber. Malgam gazed at it in awe, the undulating field of energy imposing and making its message clear.

"Get closer to it," Hildegard told him, stepping aside. Malgam looked at her, and then back at the forcefield, taking a deep breath before moving forward a few more steps. He was close enough where he could feel the vibrations of the energy on his nose. He wrinkled it, almost sneezing.

"What now?" he asked sarcastically.

"Close your eyes and listen," she commanded. Malgam rolled and closed his eyes, frustrated at the obtuse nature of all this. After only several seconds, the sylveon grew terribly impatient, rhythmically patting a paw against the ground and waiting for something to happen. All of a sudden, a whisper filled his head, which caused the fur on his back to stand.

"Why did you leave?" it asked sadly. Malgam's jaw almost became unhinged. Hildegard was right.

Unintentionally, Malgam blurted aloud, "Malice?" His eyes snapped open, and he saw the effect his voice had on the barrier. It rippled wildly like a gelatin dessert, then settled once more. Nothing else came of this. Hildegard sighed in disappointment.

"There has to be a way she can detect you," she said while in deep thought. Malgam's mind raced until he brainstormed a move he could execute, though he had no idea how effective it would be against this unknown field of energy.

"I'm going to try something, but cover your ears," Malgam told her. Hilde raised a brow, folding her arms. The sylveon looked at her, amused by her ignorance. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

The sylveon took a deep breath, then swung his head back, opening his mouth wide accompanied by a deafening shriek that filled the room in an instant. Hildegard cupped down her ears down against her head, gritting her teeth as she tried to resist the hyper voice. The barrier was not taking it well either, undulating violently and visibly tearing itself apart.

"MALICE! I! HAVE! RETURNED!" the sylveon shouted in bursts. After the last word was spoken, Hildegard watched in pure astonishment as the forcefield shattered, the energy scattering like embers across the chamber. She squatted down, shielding herself from the pellets which dissipated into the air. Once all was quiet again, she slowly unfurled herself, looking onward with wonderment. The sylveon stood tall, looking back at her with a proud grin. He then laughed, greatly amused by Hildegard's reaction.

The lucario smiled back, baring teeth, "I figured you'd be perfect for the job." In response, Malgam chortled, trying to collect his bearings.

"You know, I can't help but think," he cut himself off, as if changing his mind.

"What?" Hilde inquired.

"I believe...she broke the barrier herself upon hearing me."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Rising of Magdalene

Together, Malgam and Hildegard traversed through the newly opened corridor that had sat behind the now-shattered barrier. A cold wind of foreboding trailed down the dark hallway, brushing past the lucario and sylveon and sending chills down their spines simultaneously. Neither said a word to each other, almost able to reach the other's thoughts and feelings on the situation, especially Hildegard with her aura. She sensed great fear swelling up in Malgam, though he of course tried to look confident, or at least indifferent.

Hildegard broke the silence with a whisper to Malgam. "Your friend is up ahead. You can feel it too, right?" The sylveon swallowed audibly, nodding. "Weren't you looking forward to this?"

"Not really," he admitted. "I just want to get this resolved. I want to fix this."

"You think this is really the whole reason she's about to cause a disaster?" Hildegard started to sound demeaning. "Because she has some sort of separation anxiety problem?"

Malgam huffed at her disapprovingly, "We have a long history together, but I don't expect you to know that." He gazed ahead, feeling more brave even as his heart pounded. "I'm sure it isn't just her feelings. After what the humans did to her, something got really messed up about her body construction. I don't remember exactly how she worded it, but those emotions are tied to a stronger power." The sylveon shivered fearfully. "It's not a stable power either."

"I figured that after Jude's whole deal," she replied.

"He saw a disaster?" Malgam asked with a tone that hinted he already knew.

"Yes, caused by Malice. We have to hurry."

With that, the duo sped down the corridor, feeling the uneasy aura intensifying with each step they took.

Hildegard spoke up again, recalling something. "She just went ahead and told you about this power?" It took a bit for Malgam to understand what the lucario meant.

"Oh, back when she was a mew, she told me quite a few things about herself. I always got the impression that Malice was someone very important. She was worshipped by those humans, after all."

Hilde and Malgam eventually emerged into a large and fanciful chamber, one that stood out greatly from the rest. This room was ordained with stone that had been carved with even more intricacy than patterns previously seen, and the general construction of it was a sight to see—it dipped down, ridges forming from each wall to form a sort of staircase that merged into a small platform down below.

In the middle of this platform were two very standout entities. One was what looked like a mirror from another world; it had a distinctive, dark purple hue, held straight by a grotesquely designed frame that took the form of erratic crystal structures, jutting out in all directions. The otherworldly mirror appeared like it was floating, but that was not the only thing—above the mirror was an undulating sphere of pure, dark energy, small bolts of lightning crackling across its hypnotizing surface.

The duo stared breathlessly at the two entities, the entire chamber bathed in a malevolent, purple light. They were frozen in place, afraid that a single step could cause the energy to react. Finally, after minutes of hesitation, Hildegard breathed in deeply, taking the first step down the stairway, her eyes glued onto the sphere and mirror, wary and ready for anything that could happen. After a few more steps, Malgam started ambling behind the lucario, using her as a shield of sorts. It was then that the sylveon's ears perked up, picking up a hard pattering noise from behind. Whirling back, Malgam spotted a white-furred creature rushing in after them. He skidded to a halt upon entering the room, having the same look of awe once he saw the scene before him.

Hildegard gazed behind her shoulder, her muscles tensed as she did not dare make another move. The creature was an absol—more specifically, it was Jude. He was breathing heavily, his fur tattered. He did not exactly look like he was in the condition to battle, but his spirit was blazing, that Hildegard could sense.

Regardless, she hissed at him, "What are you doing?" Jude stared down at her with a look of determination.

"I'm not hurt enough. I can still fight," he replied stubbornly. He then noticed the sylveon standing next to Hilde and bared his teeth at the fairy type. "And you! What's your business with us!?" In response to Jude's spell of anger, the sphere of energy pulsed, sending a small shockwave across the chamber. The stone trembled and vibrated under their feet, the three trying to keep their balance.

"You might want to calm down," Malgam suggested after a pause where they reacquired their bearings. "We're not in any position to contribute to that big ball up there." The trio gazed back up at the sphere of energy which started to shrink back to its original state.

"What do you mean?" Jude asked, bewildered. Malgam shook his head, a corner of his lip raised smugly.

"Our emotions are feeding the thing. The barrier back there had the same properties too," he explained.

"How did you get rid of that wall?" Jude questioned, the chamber starting to lightly rumble once again, then settle in almost the same amount of time.

"We don't have time to get into more det—," before Malgam could finish, he spotted two more figures racing down the corridor. Fleur and a familiar lycanroc soon emerged into the room as well, and their response to the scene was predictable. Malgam groaned in frustration. "And now it's a party."

"Fleur, take that mutt and get out of here," Hildegard commanded, but the lopunny was adamant, crossing her arms.

"This is a problem for us all. You know I'm going to see this through," the mother stated firmly. Bernard butted in as well.

"Same goes for me!" he barked.

"No! We don't need more pokémon in here. This is too dangerous," Hildegard snarled. For the first time in a while, the lucario felt both panicked and greatly concerned. They did not know exactly what they were up against. She had fought many different pokémon, but this was not one. It was a collection of raw emotional energy, imbued with a vile darkness she could not grasp. There was no telling just how powerful it was, but she was almost sure it incited Jude's disaster sense, which was nothing to scoff at.

"We'll work together," Jude chimed in, getting off his haunches and standing tall. "It can't beat us when we work as a te—," another interruption, this time in the form of a loud crackle, silenced the group. This crackle followed with a searing bolt of purple lightning emanating from the undulating sphere, clashing with a wall nearby the party. The bolt pierced through the hard stone, crumbling a large chunk of it. Bernard leapt into action.

"Everyone get behind me!" the midday lycanroc shouted as he summoned a transparent shield in front of him. The blue-hued barrier was wide and sizable enough to offer everyone cover as more of the lightning bolts shot outwards in random trajectories. Everyone scrambled behind the rock wolf when he followed up, "I can protect us against a hit, one-hundred percent. After that, we have to think of something!" Hildegard was impressed of his knowledge of the Protect ability, though he was absolutely right. After a single hit, there was no guarantee that another Protect would work.

Suddenly, Hildegard felt something deep inside her, a familiar sense she picked up from the past. The sensation was akin to that of a slight burning from within, though it was not a burning that was uncomfortable, rather it bolstered her spirits and warmed her muscles, causing her to feel more powerful. The deep feminine voice rang through her head, urging her, "Get out! Leave me alone!" The lucario gazed up at the sphere and the realization just came to her.

She found herself yelling, "She's in there!" Everyone looked at her in bewilderment, but Malgam picked up on it next.

"Malice! She means Malice! She's in that sphere!" the sylveon cried out as a bolt coursed across the air with destructive speed, clashing into Bernard's shield and shattering it in an instant. The team flew back with the force of the impact, but Bernard held strong, trying to summon up another shield.

Hildegard felt the burning sensation growing stronger. In that moment where she lied on the ground, a few images spawned in her head: Two evil, glowing eyes, a cobalt necklace, purple flames. Hilde saw the Witchfox in her mind's eye, seething with rage and pointing her wand at the lucario. In that dire moment, she felt the sensation, and then it hit her.

As Bernard attempted to bring up another shield, Hildegard's body began to glisten and shine, a light trying to escape her, as if it were tethered. It leaked from her torso like a stranding ribbon and started to flow into the air. The others noticed the phenomenon and stared at the perplexed lucario in awe. Hildegard expected herself to achieve mega evolution a third time, but the strange light-based tendril, layered with a rainbow sheen, danced in midair until it suddenly rocketed forth towards Jude.

The absol hardly had time to react as the beam of light pierced him. Jude reacted with fear, but he did not feel any pain, only a swelling and warmth he had never sensed in his life. Just as the light entered him, his brilliant white fur radiated with the rainbow hue, growing brighter until his entire body was lost in the blinding light. What followed was a grand explosion of light, and from the epicenter emerged Jude, his figure slightly larger than before. The absol's fur flowed beautifully, some parts of his coat like his hair, chest, and forelegs longer. Two angelic wings sprouted from his back, fully erect and imposing despite their beauty. His horn, still broken along the bottom, also grew, having a further curvaceous extension along the top. Lastly, his tail had become more serrated and sharp, its ridges threatening and almost sinister.

Jude had mega evolved. The absol was looking at himself, in awe of his new additions. Hildegard could not believe it either. In a moment where she was meant to evolve, it instead coursed over to her companion. She never saw anything like it, but now was not the time to ponder. The lucario did not have to tell the absol to snap out of it, as Jude leapt back, dodging a bolt that had crashed into the ground in front of him. The absol snarled at the energy sphere, and his dark power was visible from the aura that swept along his feet. From there, Hildegard could feel his new power without a doubt. She almost felt a sense of pride that he was able to achieve such a form.

Leaping forward once again, Jude puffed out his chest, erecting his wings as he bellowed over the thunderous noise being echoed by the sphere. The dark aura around him rose up and gathered into a hungry flame. As this happened, some of the aura swirled around the mega absol's body, quelling any of the lightning bolts that approached him. Jude raised his two forepaws, then clashed them into the stone floor as he wrested forth the dark flames straight into the sphere. When it collided with it in a splendorous display of dancing embers, the sphere rippled violently, as if it were made of water.

The undulating barrier never stabilized, clearly not taking the dark attack well. It bulged and churned, the lightning bolts ceasing, and instead coursing along the sphere's surface frantically. Jude prepared another attack, the dark aura forming around him in a ring, appearing more dense and with a dark purple hue. The mega absol leapt straight upwards, levitating in the air momentarily as the ring pulsed with a power he could not contain for much longer. Jude released the dark energy, which exploded outward violently. His teammates had to shield themselves and get low to avoid the raw power.

The ring collided with the rippling sphere, and a horrifying scream could be heard reverberating across the chamber. The churning sphere began to tear itself apart, the psychic energy whipping about in strands and dissipating in thin air. Its destruction followed with a blinding display of purple lights, beads of the energy shooting outwards in all directions.

What was in the place of the sphere of energy filled everyone with dread. Once the light faded and the barrier was no more, the party gazed in horror at the "demon" that the zoroark Xerxes had previously described. Hildegard expected the Malice she fought at the decrepit human facility to be floating in that spot, but she was not even sure anymore. The creature had the same humanoid figure as a mewtwo, but her body had new additions, much like Jude with his own mega form. The lucario did not even think it possible for this creature to achieve such a form.

Malice floated, curled up in a fetal position. Her head had a more slender but bulkier shape, her horns turning from rounded into sharp and curving upwards from a v-shaped ridge along her forehead. Two purple, fleshy growths circled around her upper arms and over her shoulder. Her torso appeared smaller than her limbs, all of which had grown significantly in size to give a physically more powerful look. Her limbs also had two ridges on each of them, including on her thighs. The once long, slender tail of her original form had shrunk slightly in length, the end curling into itself.

Everyone was breathless, even Jude, who had stepped back as if deterred by the sheer power radiating from Malice's new body. Only Malgam had the courage to step forward and confront the transformed mewtwo. Hilde could feel his fear, but also a hint of strong regret. The only sound that could be heard was the vibrating hum of the power surrounding the mewtwo, that is, until the sylveon broke it.

"So this is what happened to you. I didn't think you cared so much about me!" He spoke loudly despite Malice appearing like she was asleep, curled up with her eyes shut. "I thought you completely lost it when you turned into mewtwo, but I guess there was always something tying us together, wasn't there?" There was no response from Malice, but Hildegard could sense the horrible anger burning inside her. It was getting stronger, and from that, she could tell the mewtwo heard every word. "I came back because...I wanted to say I was sorry. I'm sorry that I left you behind like that." The lucario could tell Malgam was not used to apologizing. He sounded somewhat insincere, but she could not get herself to step in. Even if he could have used more work on it, the fact that he said it directly to this frightful creature convinced the lucario.

Everyone flinched upon seeing the mewtwo slowly unfurl from her fetal position, her eyes still closed, but her full, undeniably powerful form now in plain view. The aura around her started to change into a reddish hue, bathing the room in its sinister glow. Still, Malgam did not back down.

"Look, you don't have to be mad at them. This is between you and me. You've always been kinda hard to talk to, but it might be best if we could—" Before he could finish, Malice's eyes snapped open, revealing two irises that glowed a malicious purple. This shut up the sylveon instantly, but he did not anticipate what happened next. Malice stretched out one of her arms like it was made of rubber, grabbing the sylveon and swiping him back to her. It did not stop there, however, as Malice proceeded to toss Malgam into the wall behind her. The sylveon hit the wall hard enough so that the stone collapsed behind him, sticking him to the wall.

Hildegard's heart felt like it dropped. Malice's power had reached heights she did not expect. At first, she felt it might have been too late to stop her, and sensing everyone's fear did not help. But the lucario was not about to give up without a fight, even if it meant her last. Getting up onto her feet, she stepped forth and accosted the imposing mewtwo, who glared down at her with her glowing eyes. The lucario's courage inspired Jude to join her by her side, the mega absol imbuing his figure with his dark energy.

Just then, Malice launched herself forth with blinding speed, and Hildegard leapt in front of Jude just as the mewtwo extended a bulky fist. The lucario took the blow to her chest, unable to keep her footing as she crashed into Jude. The two flew back and lay crumpled on the ground, the power of the single strike too great. Malice huffed softly but curtly, almost appearing disappointed. She levitated slowly to the two downed pokémon, but then stopped, noticing the trembling lopunny mother close by to the side. Fleur was filled with fear, but she knew she could not let the creature leave the temple, lest she spread destruction across the lands.

Fleur, clenching her fists, squatted down slightly and focused her power into her legs. She prepared for a devastating kick, one she specialized in and even used on Hildegard back when they first met. Rearing back, the lopunny jumped off the ground, rocketing towards the mewtwo with a leg outstretched. The mewtwo blocked the incoming attack with one of her large arms, and the impact was even forceful enough to cause the sinister creature to land and skid across the stone floor on her feet. Fleur's foot still balanced on her arm, Malice quickly grabbed it with her other arm, whipping the lopunny's body directly into the floor behind her. A plume of smoke burst up along with bits of stone as Fleur crashed down like a ragdoll. She was instantly downed from the throw, the poor mother unmoving.

Malice chuckled, looking at her hands in admiration of her unstoppable physical strength. She heard shuffling behind her and gazed back in annoyance. She spotted Bernard next, the lycanroc facing her with not as much bravery as the others. After seeing what became of them, the wolf pokémon was almost ready to dash away to spare himself the possibly fatal beating he was about to receive.

The mewtwo levitated and sped back towards the cowardly lycanroc. Bernard reacted fast, bringing up yet another Protect shield just in time for a mighty backfist to collide with it. The shield shattered and the force of the blow sent Bernard skidding towards a wall until his back touched it. Before Malice could release another follow-up attack on the lycanroc, she noticed something in her peripherals that caught her off guard and even amused her a little. Malgam fell towards the ground in a heap, releasing himself from the clutches of the stone wall he was buried in. Coughing and attempting to get up onto his feet, the sylveon tried to make fun of the situation, laughing off his pain.

He glared back at the mewtwo, accompanied with a bright, toothy grin. "You got me good there, Malice. Not bad." He groaned a bit as he tried to stand straight and keep himself on his feet. "But I think you could've done much better than that!" he jeered, hunching down as if anticipating another blow. His taunt worked, the mewtwo ignoring the lycanroc and speeding towards the cheeky sylveon without a second thought.

As she closed in on Malgam, he shut his eyes, summoning a fireworks display of radiant fairy energy, bursting in front of him and lighting up the entire chamber brilliantly. Malice reared back in shock, screaming as the energy pelted and seared her body. Hildegard watched from afar, badly hurt, but not quite down yet. She recognized the attack Malgam used—Dazzling Gleam. With how the mewtwo reacted to the move, it seemed to have great effect on her, and Hilde wondered if her typing had changed with her transformation.

Even as the light from the Dazzling Gleam faded, the mewtwo covered her eyes, frantically swiping her other arm around in a rage.

"I didn't want to do that, but you left me no choice, Malice!" Malgam shouted to her, trying to signal to her where he was. Using the sound of his voice, the mewtwo rushed towards him, swinging one of her huge fists. Malgam leapt up and dodged the attack, which was easy to do thanks to how clumsy Malice was from being blinded. Her fist crunched into the stone wall effortlessly as Malgam landed behind her. He used yet another Dazzling Gleam on the mewtwo, injuring her further. She bellowed in agony amidst the explosions of energy around her body, but the more hurt she was, the stronger the aura around her became. Malgam knew he had to try to think of something else at this point.

In Malice's blind rage, Malgam noticed something leaking out of her body. It appeared as a wisp of dark matter, trailing back towards the mirror that still stood intimidatingly in the center of the chamber. The matter sank into the black mirror, which reacted with a pulsating effect. The sylveon got chills just seeing it, but then he noticed the lycanroc bounding towards the mirror, in awe of its sinister majesty. He inspected the frame around it, wide-eyed.

"The dark shards! It's a part of this thing!" he shouted to Malgam. The sylveon quickly dashed over to Bernard's side, keeping an eye on the frenzied Malice in the distance.

"What are you talking about?" the sylveon questioned.

"I met with a witch. She used this same kind of material for her rituals! Maybe that creature is using its power too!" Bernard tried to explain, even though he wasn't sure of himself nor how the crystals worked. The two stared into the black abyss beyond the tainted glass before them, beckoning them into its harrowing void.

"And," Bernard continued, though his voice choked, "it's this same witch that used this to...tie me with my brother. Wilder." Bernard looked down sadly.

"Your brother?" Malgam vaguely remembered that this was the same lycanroc that joined his little army back when he was an eevee.

"There's no time to explain. We have to find a way to destroy this!" Bernard snarled and dipped his head low to the ground, causing the ground beneath them to vibrate. The tremor grew more powerful until huge, pointed rocks emerged from the floor, sending the mirror sprawling into the air. It landed noisily to the side, though it appeared there was not a single scratch left on it.

It was Malgam's turn. The sylveon approached the mirror rapidly and then arched back his head, his ribbons flowing upwards as a ball of fairy energy started to form above him. The sphere grew to a large size before Malgam released it onto the mirror. The collision caused small pieces of the crystals to fly out, though it was still mostly intact. One of the shards flew right at Bernard, slicing him in his left foreleg. The lycanroc yelped, hunching down to tend to his cut.

"You alright, buddy!?" the sylveon asked with genuine concern. Bernard stared at his wound, which bled, but also smoked with a ghastly wisp of dark purple. Gazing at the cut caused visions to flash in Bernard's head. He remembered the Witchfox as a braixen, waving her wand and interacting with the dark crystal as his brother laid unconscious next to her. The memory of her cutting herself shone vividly in his mind's eye, and then he came to realization.

"We have to go inside," the lycanroc said in a dream-like state, his eyes wide with horror.

"What? Inside where?" Malgam questioned, losing his patience as he saw Malice beginning to finally recover.

"The mirror! We have to go in! We have to face him!" Bernard shouted as he limped towards it. Malgam faced Malice, defending the lycanroc as he proceeded to drip some of his blood into the mirror. The mewtwo flinched at this, grasping her head and moaning loudly in pain as the black glass rippled with Bernard's offering.

Suddenly, the surface exploded with dark energy, two massive tendril emerging from a swirling portal that formed in an instant. The tendrils bound Malgam and Bernard, who were the closest to the mirror, and they were swiftly dragged in. The two were helpless to stop it, and found themselves plunged into pure, silent darkness.

* * *

Malgam could hear almost nothing as he felt his body being pulled with terrifying speed into the void. He was mortified being forced into this unknown realm, and he expected himself to be torn to shreds at any moment. Still wrapped by the dark tendrils, the sylveon could eventually see something come into view at his side. Bernard appeared before him, the lycanroc also mostly wrapped up by the dark tentacles like a cocoon. The two looked at each other with fear in their eyes, completely speechless at their current predicament.

Bernard looked forward and Malgam followed his gaze. What he saw up ahead caused his insides to squirm. Two red eyes manifested within the void, as well as a red, glowing mouth underneath them. The disembodied face inched closer towards the two, studying them both with great interest. Malgam could not help but feel absolute dread staring into the massive face of this unknown creature. Through his peripherals, he can see Bernard squirming madly within his dark shackles, as if he had experienced this before. Not long after, the darkness swallowed up the lycanroc, him disappearing completely from Malgam's view. The sylveon's heart dropped. For the first time in a while, he felt like weeping pathetically.

He looked back at the creature, who finally inched in close enough to reveal its true face, and it was a difficult one to describe. All Malgam knew was that he had never seen anything like it in his life. The eyes and mouth were attached to a dragon-like visage, a golden, U-shaped crest laid upon its forehead and extending into sharp horns along the sides. The creature's head lay upon a long neck, striped with a black and red pattern and encircled with three golden rings. Its body was far too big for Malgam to get a glimpse of how the rest of it looked down below.

The only thing that rang in Malgam's mind was to give it his all. This was not a creature of kindness and benevolence, and he did not have to sense aura like Hildegard to know this. He summoned up all the remaining power he had left in his injured body, gathering it within himself. The sylveon began to radiate with fairy energy, a shining beacon in the suffocating darkness surrounding them. The energy was enough to start peeling away the dark clutches that grasped him, and the creature they belonged to reeled back in fright. Soon enough, Malgam was entirely free, the otherworldly monster writhing in a maddened frenzy. Even so, the sylveon did not let up. His energy had become so strong that the light itself surpassed his size, appearing as a sun within the void of space. It was large enough to eventually phase into the ghostly creature, it reeling its head back, letting out a very faint roar with its red mouth wide open. Space itself started to undulate against the creature's tumultuous cries, oddly quiet in the dark realm they were in.

Malgam's merciless onslaught of fairy power only gradually became even bigger, and in this instant, the sylveon thought back to his first times with Malice, before she had transformed into a mewtwo; good memories of them lifting each other up despite being contained were vivid in his mind. He even thought back to his times building his silly little army, with the moody Malice at his side despite their stark differences. It felt like it was a lifetime of its own. Finally, the glistening sylveon could do no more. All fell silent again. The creature had already made its escape, and the beacon of light died and faded quickly, leaving behind a lifeless Malgam, floating away into the abyss helplessly.

* * *

Hildegard, Fleur, and Jude, still incapacitated, watched in horror as Malice was engulfed in a dark purple smoke, this smog emanating from the toppled black mirror in which Malgam and Bernard had disappeared into. The mirror itself soon began to levitate and tremble violently, the smog thick enough where Malice could no longer be seen, and her blood-curdling screams were drowned out. Shafts of purple light exploded out of the mirror as it began to disintegrate within a swirl of dark matter. Soon enough, within all the dark purple came a comforting white light, piercing through the smoke. Before they knew it, the room was filled with it, the light so intense that their eyes felt like they were burning even as they were closed. A deafening explosion reverberated across the chamber. The light and sound quickly subsided, however, and the three waited a bit before opening their eyes once again, afraid of what was there to greet them.

The lucario was the first to do so, gasping at what was in front of her. Suspended in the air was a sizeable cloud of the purple smog, and below it was Malgam. The sylveon was sprawled on the ground in a heap, not moving. The mirror was nowhere to be seen. Her entire body aching, Hildegard crawled forward, her muscles screaming in pain, though she would not let up. Once she was close enough, she placed a paw on Malgam's body, trying to nudge him awake.

Just then, the cloud started to move backwards, the smoke evaporating and unveiling the figure that had been swallowed by it. It was yet another creature, this one smaller than the Malice they were fighting not long ago. She had the same pink skin, but the shape of her body was vastly different, even more slender than normal. The top of her head extended into a long appendage that was identical to her tail, rounded at the end, and she no longer had a tail. The tube that was once behind her neck was also missing. Around her scalp emerged a half ring structure that jutted upwards and ended with a couple spikes coming out the bases. Her forearms still appeared bulky, but not nearly as much as her previous form. Her digits were bulbous like before, and a notably bumpy ridge extended off her sternum.

The mewtwo very slowly descended from the air, though she remained hovering. Her body was arched back and she did not appear conscious despite being suspended in air by psychic powers. A moment later, she straightened herself out, opening her eyes to reveal a softer, more feminine look. The vile, sinister aura that once emanated off of her was completely gone, the creature now appearing somber and perplexed. She gazed at her digits dreamily, and then the rest of her body.

As Malice wearily observed herself, Hildegard looked back, noticing that Jude was back to his normal form. The absol was trying to help the lopunny, who was thankfully conscious, but finding it difficult to rise back up after the impact she took. This may have been it. The battle was over, but at what cost?

"I don't," a soft voice spoke from behind Hilde. The lucario turned forward again to see Malice observing the scene in front of her now. "I don't believe it." Her voice trembled, as if it were the first time she had spoken in years. "Am I truly in control...once again?"

"What do you mean?" the lucario asked, though Malice did not answer. The mewtwo looked away, as if ashamed.

"All that anger and hatred. It consumed me and entrapped me. I didn't think I would ever come back," she explained. Hildegard almost couldn't believe the situation herself. She was ready to face her end in this dusty chamber, and now the mewtwo she had seen as a horrifying enemy was now this meek and confused creature.

Malice eyed the lucario once again with a look of sadness.

"Thank you. Thank all of you," she said, and then she started to float off towards the room's exit. Hilde had to muster her energy to shout out.

"Wait! Stop!" she barked at the mewtwo. Malice did stop and looked over her shoulder. "That's it? You're just gonna leave like nothing happened?" The mewtwo closed her eyes hard, as if expecting this. It also looked like she was trying to avoid Hildegard's gaze, or more someone that was close to the lucario. "What about all the pain and suffering you caused?"

The mewtwo slowly turned her whole body around, facing the lucario with a colder look.

"I didn't do it," she said bluntly. "There's nothing else to say." Hildegard huffed and then looked over at Malgam's lifeless body.

"What about him? Do you have any idea what he did for you?" Truthfully the lucario was not fully aware of the science behind what he did, but clearly the mirror had a connection to her, and Malgam decimated it at the cost of his own health. Hilde didn't know if he would survive this whole ordeal at this rate. Malice just looked at the sylveon with profound sadness and regret, but she tried to put it behind her. To her side, Malice noticed Fleur limping over to the two, Jude soon joining them as well. The lopunny mother studied Malgam and appeared gravely worried.

"He may not make it," she said grimly. Malice looked frustrated, facing away from the scene.

"It's sad. But," she hesitated for a moment before continuing, "death and life are hand-in-hand. We have to accept it." She started to leave again, but Hildegard was not about to let her.

"He was your friend!" she bellowed at the top of her lungs. Malice was frightened by Hilde's outburst, facing her once again. "He thought about you the whole time! That doesn't mean anything to you!?"

Malice was reluctant again, but gave her the same cold look as before and stated, "He shouldn't have left me. I was trapped in a cage of misery for longer than he can even perceive."

"Maybe so, but he came back," Hildegard snarled. The lucario summoned the energy to rise up onto her feet once more. "He found a trainer, he got the form he was infatuated with, and yet he came back because he was filled with regret. He wanted to free you and make things right with you again." Malice was taken aback and looked back at her hands which were clasped together, trying to think of what to say next but having no more excuses to make up. "And that's exactly what he did, Malice."

"Don't call me that," the mewtwo snapped, clenching her digits. "Not anymore. Malice is gone, and it's…" She choked, looking down at Malgam again with her eyes glistening. "It's thanks to him." She slowly floated over to them and they made way for the somber mewtwo. Tears streaming down her eyes, she knelt down over the sylveon, placing a hand on his tattered fur. Everyone gave her a moment to grieve, but not too long, as Hildegard knew there was a chance he could be restored. Before she could speak up, however, the mewtwo proceeded to say, "My name is Magdalene, and Malice is no more." She bent down to scoop up Malgam with her arms. The sylveon lay limp in her embrace, a couple of her tears falling onto his body. "I am a disgraced member of the Realm of Legends, and even at this point it might be too late to find penance."

Hildegard walked up to her and said, "Find penance here. Help this kid, would you?" Magdalene nodded after a brief moment, but then looked hesitant and unsure.

"Let me help," Fleur said, ambling up and reaching into a pocket on her makeshift skirt. She pulled out some still fresh berries and mulched them so that their juices coated Malgam's wounds. "I didn't know if they would help in the condition he is in, but the damage that was done runs deep."

"The mirror," Magdalene followed up. "The darkness he faced in that other realm may have pierced his very soul. To save Malgam...may require me to transcend to my original home." The mewtwo sounded nervous as she said this, as if she knew she was in trouble, or worse. "That is why I make mention of it."

"Whatever you have to do, it's in your hands now," Hildegard stated. "He saved you. Now it's time to save him." To that, Magdalene nodded again, her head appendage swaying like a pendulum. She appeared more energetic now, and resolute. She gazed forward hard with a new purpose.

"Thank you again," the mewtwo said as she levitated and moved forward into the dark of the corridor ahead. Once it was quiet again, the three remaining pokémon tended to their own wounds, Fleur helping them with the remaining berries she had. As they healed up, they thought about what they experienced, their spirits lifted by the entire outcome. They had diverted an impending crisis from a creature they had no chance of winning a fight against. It was mainly thanks to Malgam and his selfless sacrifice, but then they remembered that someone else joined in the fray and disappeared into the mirror with him.

Just before they prepared to leave the temple, they heard something that sounded akin to a plume of smoke from behind them. Hildegard, Fleur, and Jude looked back at the middle of the chamber to see that two canine pokémon were sprawled out on the ground.


End file.
